Schwertner Ranch residents in Jarrell face repeated power outages from Oncor

JARRELL, Texas - Many residents in Schwertner Ranch in Jarrell have reached out to FOX 7 Austin's 7 On Your Side about repeated power outages from Oncor. 

Residents speak out about power outages

What they're saying:

Dalton Anderson has lived in Schwertner Ranch for the past three years. 

He estimates the power goes out once every couple of months, even when there's no severe weather. Sometimes it's out for an hour, sometimes a whole day. 

"It seems that there's no rhyme or reason most of the time other than equipment malfunction, or they'll tell us it's routine maintenance," he said.

Even when their lights are out, neighborhoods across County Road 313 will still have electricity. 

"It just doesn't make sense to us how we're always the island without power," he said.

These power outages were especially frustrating when one came unexpectedly before the freeze in January. A few weeks ago, on Jan. 22, Anderson says the power went out for about 36 hours.

"It was panic mode. I wasn't prepared to be out of power several days before [the storm]," Anderson said. "We went out and bought a generator because there was no way I was going to let the refrigerator sit out of power for five days."

The power did come back before the freeze over the weekend, but many neighbors complained they couldn't prepare for the storm.

"People that were stocking up for the freeze ended up losing all the food. It's just a shame," Anderson said.

What's next:

Oncor acknowledges that outages have been challenging for Jarrell residents. Some outages were planned, and others unplanned. You can read their statements below:

Statement on Jarrell improvements

"Oncor is committed to improving our service to Jarrell residents. In 2024, we began a multi-year project to make major infrastructure upgrades that will strengthen our system, reduce outage risks, and ensure long-term service reliability for customers in Jarrell and other nearby communities we serve. This work includes constructing, upgrading and reconfiguring power lines, installing hundreds of new transformers, and upgrading the Jarrell substation to safely handle additional capacity. We are working to implement these critical improvements so we can continue meeting Jarrell’s current and future energy needs."

Statement on Villages at Schwertner Ranch outage

"The Villages at Schwertner Ranch experienced an extended outage on Jan. 22 due to an underground equipment issue. Oncor recognizes that this outage was challenging for the customers who were impacted and preparing for the arrival of Winter Storm Fern. While repairs to underground equipment can be more time-consuming to identify, access and repair, our teams worked as quickly and safely as possible to restore this outage. We also dispatched additional crews during the winter storm to implement additional equipment upgrades to further strengthen service reliability for these customers."

Oncor has a Williamson County Reliability Project. Besides Jarrell, it's also supposed to help neighborhoods in Florence, Georgetown, Taylor, and Round Rock.