The City of Pierre is preparing for a POTENTIAL electrical blackout early tomorrow morning (Feb. 17, 2021), at the request of the Southwest Power Pool. SPP manages the electrical grid for 14 states, including South Dakota.
Utilities director Brad Palmer says IF ordered by SPP, the blackout will last between 30 and 90 minutes, but no individual property is expected to be without power for more than 60 minutes. He says they will try to prevent impacts to the hospital, schools, skilled nursing facilities and other critical infrastructure.
Palmer says different parts of Pierre are fed by different substations, which allows the City to have some control over which geographic areas are impacted. He says because demand is constantly fluctuating and is impacted by communities as far away as northern Texas, power suppliers won’t know until early morning if they’ll need to issue a blackout. He says Pierre’s power may not get shut off, but community members should prepare to be without power for up to an hour Wednesday morning.
To help alleviate the power strain, residents are encouraged to conserve energy by delaying use of dishwashers and washers and dryers, turning down heat and shutting off lights. Information from Bright Energy Solutions says 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while they are turned off.
To avoid “phantom loads,” Missouri River Energy Services recommends unplugging items such TVs, phone chargers, DVD players, etc.
Other energy conservation tips include:
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turn your thermostat down a few degrees
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delay the use of large appliances
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turn off unnecessary lights
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make sure your attic access is tightly sealed and well insulated
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use caulk to seal cracks in the rim joist where basement walls meet the ceiling
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seal gaps where plumbing and wiring pass through basement walls or ceilings leading to the outside or into the floor above
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unplug battery chargers when the batteries are fully charged or the chargers are not in use
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limit showers to 10 minutes or less
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microwave ovens use 50% less energy than conventional ovens, so heat food in the microwave instead of on the range top or in the oven
The City of Pierre does not generate power. It purchases electricity from two wholesale power suppliers– Western Area Power Administration and Missouri River Energy Services. Those two entities, along with a variety of other power generators, pool the energy they produce into the Southwest Power Pool; that pool supplies energy to more than a dozen states ranging from the Canadian border to Texas.
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