As Wintry Weather Arrives, Denton Crews, Equipment On Standby To Respond To Possible Power Outages

DENTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Denton city leaders said they learned a lot from last year's severe winter storm and are better prepared this year as a result.

The wintry weather and potential problems are certainly top of mind.

Resident Cameron Cianelli said, "I don't know what we're going to do about the power if it goes out. I guess we're going to huddle up in one room."

The General Manager of Denton Municipal Electric, Tony Puente said Wednesday, Feb. 2, it will have crews staged throughout the night to respond quickly in case there are any downed power lines causing outages.

Starting at 10:00 p.m., crews will turn their diesel power trucks on so that the fuel doesn't freeze as it did during last year's severe winter storm.

Puente said, "We believe that some of the efforts we've made both in personnel decisions and operational changes that we made position our entire system for anything that may come our way."

Denton Municipal Electric has about 60,000 customers.

Puente said they winterized their power generation plant in the short-term and have more to do in the next two years.

He said they have also inspected 6,000 of their 10,000 power poles, and have replaced 400 to be proactive.

The utility also increased the number of circuits available to rotate in the event there have to be any rolling outages.

Puente said, "We have far more customers we can rotate through and so what that means is that an individual customer should experience fewer outages for shorter durations of time."

The city's Martin Luther King Rec Center is an emergency shelter where there are cots, showers, and cages for pets.

RELATED: Denton Mayor Issues Disaster Declaration Ahead Of Winter Weather Event

Mayor Gerard Hudspeth said the city will provide some food and water, and there will be security.

"It lowers the barriers as best we can to make sure our entire community is safe. Everyone in the city of Denton is important to us from a health and safety standpoint. We want to make sure we take every precautionary measure to take every step to be welcoming," Mayor Hudspeth said.

The recreation shelter is considered critical infrastructure so it should not lose power unless there are downed power lines that need to be repaired.

Mayor Hudspeth said the city learned last year it needed to improve communications with the public.

He said the city will provide consistent information to residents on its website.