Planned power outages? What’s that even mean?
Below you will see the press release sent to us by the Southwest Power Pool but to summarize it: over the next few days, the power pool will be coordinating planned outages in an attempt to conserve power. Basically, they are trying to alleviate the burden we have been putting on the system with how INSANELY cold it has been lately.
The idea behind this approach is to be proactive in attempting to “shed the load” (load shedding) before it overloads the system and quits altogether. Giving it a break so it doesn’t break.
“We have recommended that load-serving utilities throughout our region take conservation measures to mitigate the risk of more widespread and longer-lasting outages.,” as stated in the press release sent Monday morning. “SPP is coordinating closely with our members and market participants to respond to high demand for electricity, inadequate supply of natural gas, and wind-forecast uncertainty among other variables.”
Why does your power seem to be going out and coming back on shortly after? Well, just like our dikes saved Scribner in the 2019 flood, our new generators are able to save you from being without power for a long period of time when SPP decides it’s our turn to do some load shedding. Our power may seem like it’s blinking off and on but actually it’s the main power supply being powered off and then our generators kicking on.
Scribner prides itself in being prepared for unplanned emergencies just like this one.
Stay safe! We’re all in this together.
