Streets at the Texas Medical Center were icy and mostly empty as the record-setting winter storm hit Houston in mid-February 2021. Yet TECO's steam and chilled water service continued uninterrupted to TMC campus customers, thanks to our combined heat and power system that provided all of the power TECO needed – and more – to weather the storm.
In fact, TECO generated enough electricity to serve our own plant plus feed 45 MW per hour into the ERCOT grid. That’s enough to power 9,000 homes.
But TECO wanted to do more to help. As most have heard, water supply became a problem in many locales. Although TECO is not a water supplier, we have three of our own water wells (two supplied from two separate aquifers) plus three municipal water feeds. (The on-site well was added as a secondary water source after city water supply pressure dropped during Hurricane Alicia.)
TECO pumped water from our own wells and delivered non-potable water to hospitals outside the medical center campus for use in toilets, etc. We also stood ready to supply potable water to Texas Medical Center institutions as needed.
We continue to monitor conditions in and around the medical center and will lend a hand whenever possible.
TECO thanks all of our employees who braved precarious conditions to keep our plants running around the clock. Once again, you made us proud.
