People in South Dakota and about a dozen other states in the central part of the US are being asked to continue conserving energy this morning (Feb. 17) to help reduce the huge demand on the electrical power grid brought on by widespread and extreme cold weather conditions.
The Southwest Power Pool is a regional transmission organization that oversees the bulk electric grid and wholesale power market on behalf of a group of utilities and transmission companies in 14 states. SPP issued its first ever Emergency Energy Alert 3 this week signaling that its operating reserves were below the required minimum.
President and CEO Barbara Sugg says directing their member utilities to implement controlled interruptions– or rolling blackouts– of service was a difficult decision to make.
Sugg says managing an area from Canada to Texas provides opportunity to distribute power disruptions.
Pierre is on standby for a POTENTIAL electrical blackout early this morning (Feb. 17, 2021), at the request of the Southwest Power Pool. City utilities director Brad Palmer says IF ordered, the blackout will last between 30 and 90 minutes, but no individual property is expected to be without power for more than 60 minutes.
Earlier this week, Missouri River Energy Services asked Fort Pierre to run its generation station to help lighten the load on the power grid. That’s expected to continue running for another day or so.
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