DALLAS — This winter storm is not discriminating, but people are questioning whether ERCOT is with its electricity. The number of people struggling without power because of rolling outages is not the same for every community, according to online power outage maps. 

Different communities are seeing more power problems than others. 

Many hotels are fully booked with families from many parts of the state who don’t have power trying to escape the cold. That’s no different at The Lumen hotel in the Highland Park community where the electricity has stayed on. Other businesses and homeowners continue to have lights and heat with no disruptions. 

It’s an affluent part of town right by SMU’s campus. Some people are upset because they think this is a situation of privilege. 

Jeffery Doman does not care about any power outage map. He is a Highland Park resident and moved across the street to The Lumen with his son Joaquin and his dog Hershey because they are without power. 

“I mean, are we in some kind of Twilight Zone? The food is all gone in the grocery stores. Students are running from across SMU in packs trying to find places to stay,” said Doman. 

Being without power makes him feel hopeless. Not only does he not have electricity, but his water pipes at home are frozen. 

“I mean it’s just getting through the next 24 hours. Hopefully, everything thaws up and the house doesn’t flood,” Doman said. 

Doman says some of his neighbors who live on the same street as him have had no problems with power while riding out this winter storm at home. 

“I feel like we’re in Antarctica right now. We’re not enjoying it,” said Alex Breeden, while walking to a convenience store with her partner, Matthew Center.  

Breeden and Center are a Highland Park couple who are in that category of people who have electricity. The two say they are listening to city officials by dialing down their use to help conserve energy. 

“So, we have piles of laundry piled up and we’re just waiting for this to all be over so that we can get back to normal,” Breeden noted. 

The couple bought coffee at the nearby 7-Eleven to help keep warm instead of cranking up their heat in their Highland Park home. 

Highland Park is also an area that’s close to a few hospitals. ONCOR released a statement Monday afternoon saying communities by hospitals may not be impacted by rolling outages because it’s critical for hospitals to stay running without interruptions.