HTX-WDL: Impact 10/13/2025

The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce held a candidate forum for the open position on The Woodlands Township's board of directors, Position 6, on Oct. 9.

On the ballot: The four candidates for Position 6 are:

• Adam Lamb
• Allan Bounds
• Philip Ikharebhore
• Maria Holmes

Ojo de Agua is planning a location in The Woodlands, according to a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing.

What's on the menu: Ojo de Agua serves authentic Mexican and Mediterranean dishes, along with a beverage program that includes made-to-order juices, smoothies, teas, coffees and cocktails. It's the second location for the business, as previously reported by Community Impact.

• 10716 Kuykendahl Road, Ste. 10B, The Woodlands

Home affordability in the Houston region has a more balanced position in the September housing affordability report from the Houston Association of Realtors.

At a glance: Single-family homes priced from $250,000 to $499,999, which accounted for more than 55% of all September sales, experienced a 1.3% decline compared to the same time last year, according to the report.

Digging deeper: The median home price was $327,000, which is 2.1% less than last year’s figure. The average price inched up 2% to $421,655, largely due to a rise in luxury home sales in September, per the release.

Quote of note: “The past few months have brought lower mortgage rates, and it has helped boost buyer confidence,” HAR Chair Shae Cottar with LPT Realty said in a statement.

Texas’ power grid is unlikely to have issues this December, according to an Oct. 3 report by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

The details: During the winter, demand for electricity spikes when people get up in the morning and return home in the evening. This December, the tightest period is expected to be from 7-8 a.m. each day, when little to no solar power is being produced. ERCOT found that there will be a 1.81% chance of a grid emergency during that time.

“Under typical grid conditions, the deterministic scenario indicates that there should be sufficient generating capacity available," the report reads.

The background: Texas' grid withstood three cold snaps early this year. ERCOT last asked residents to voluntarily reduce their energy use in January 2024.

Legislative approach: State lawmakers approved legislation this spring that is designed to make the grid more reliable by tightening regulations on large electric consumers, such as data centers. In extreme grid conditions, those customers will be required to switch to backup power to reduce strain on the grid.

Over one year after Hurricane Beryl, 1 in 8 Houston-area residents reported their lives were still “very” or “somewhat” disrupted by Beryl, according to an Oct. 2 report from the Houston Population Research Center at the Kinder Institute.

Looking back: According to the report, Beryl caused an estimated $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion in property damage.

Quote of note: “Now, a year down the road, residents are having to grapple with the reality of repairs that are still needed, credit card bills from unexpected hotel rooms or refilling the fridge that are still unpaid, and their expectations that these things should already be resolved but they’re not,” Dan Potter, co-director of the research center and lead researcher on the survey work, said in the report.

Going forward: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has delivered the majority of its disaster aid, but there is still a gap to fill. As of early 2025, federal estimates suggested there was about $800 million in repairs needed between the destruction from Beryl and the May 2024 derecho.