Jack Money
Published: Mon, 15 February 2021 17:10
Updated: Mon, 15 February 2021 17:41
Oklahomans may wonder when their power can go down or come back after local electricity services, including Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., were briefly ordered Monday to begin power outages when demand for power exceeds supply in the country’s central part, where icy temperatures are much lower. as was normal.
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the local transmission operator overseeing the network that serves parts or all 14 states between here and Canada, notified users throughout the system at 12:30 that it has a power outage inside parts of its system order an effort to save available power sources.
The order was generated because the electricity consumption exceeded the available amount of generation and the cuts were necessary, officials said to prevent further, more widespread and uncontrolled interruptions. It requested operators to cut their service by about 1.5% from the highest demand on Monday morning.
About 50 minutes later, the SPP withdrew its warning status to a level 2, suspending the need for electricity eclipses – at least for Monday afternoon.
“But things are changing. We expect our cargo to increase again later tonight, and we could very well be in this situation again and within and outside the required reductions between now and Thursday, ‘said Lanny Nickell, chief operating officer of SPP, on Monday afternoon.
‘In our history as a network operator, this is an unprecedented event and is the first time SPP has ever had to call for controlled service outages. It is a last resort that we understand, a burden on our members and the customers they serve, but it is a step we take consciously to prevent conditions from getting worse, which can lead to uncontrolled interruptions of even greater magnitude. . “
What is coming, weather and conservation efforts will play the central role in answering the question.
“It all depends on whether we have enough energy to supply the demand,” Nickell said.