Power outages disrupt businesses, raise concerns in Celina

Electric system upgrades are underway in Celina as businesses deal with costly outages

Frustration is mounting in North Texas’ Celina as residents and downtown businesses deal with repeated power outages.

Business owners say unpredictable, hours-long interruptions are disrupting routines and cutting into profits.

“We just don’t know, so you could be in the middle of your day and then the whole thing goes off,” said Katie Dunn, owner of Nowhere Bar and Little Wooden Penguin in Celina.

Dunn said outages are becoming more frequent and lasting longer. She said the most recent outage on Thursday lasted nearly 12 hours, leading to lost revenue and spoiled food.

“Tossing burgers, tossing chicken, wagyu dogs, it’s done. It’s gone,” she said.

Other businesses in downtown Celina report similar challenges.

Stella’s Ice Cream said it has thrown out more than $70,000 worth of melted ice cream in the past month.

At Mangiamo Italian Market & Deli, manager Casey Harper said the uncertainty is raising concerns about the business's future.

“It could require a shutdown at this point. We’re not only losing our product, we have workers that rely on this business, and if they can’t rely on the business, how are they supposed to come to work? How are they supposed to continue to give us effort if we can't return the favor?” Harper said.

Power provider Oncor said it recognizes how disruptive repeated outages are and is working on a multiphase reliability improvement project in Celina. The company said the effort was accelerated because of outages and continued growth.

According to the city, upgrades include installing more than 100 new poles, replacing about 400 crossarms, and adding advanced circuit switches.

Oncor said most of the project is expected to be completed this summer. The company also said the most recent outage on Thursday was caused by severe weather.

The Celina Economic Development Corp. is scheduled to host a downtown business meeting on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at City Hall. Oncor is expected to attend.

“The ideal scenario here is that we are able to identify all the businesses downtown that are having these problems, they get a switcher installed, and they get a generator, and Oncor says we’re sorry about what happened,” Dunn said.

For now, business owners say they are adapting as best they can.

“We are MacGyvering Celina right now. It is a little crazy,” Dunn said.