Southwest Power Pool officials said enough power had been generated to move Oklahoma back to a Level 2 energy emergency warning.
The SPP on Sunday declared for the first time an Energy Emergency Warning Level 3, which is the highest warning level, meaning its ‘operating reserves are below the required minimum’, officials said in a press release.
According to The Southwest Power Pool’s website, it “manages the power grid in 17 central and western U.S. states and provides energy services to customers on a contract basis.” That includes Oklahoma.
According to a press release, the Southwest Power Pool has instructed its members to be prepared to implement controlled service interruptions if necessary. ‘
“Controlled service interruptions are a last resort, and a step we take only when necessary to protect the continued reliability of the regional network,” said Lanny Nickell, executive vice president and chief operating officer of SPP.
According to PSO officials, this could be a blackout for Oklahomans.
According to a tweet from Southwest Power Pool, the company urges members to implement controlled service outages immediately.
PSO-Oklahoma, OG&E, and all other power companies connected to the southwestern power grid are in the same situation.
They are asking customers to limit electricity consumption, to lower demand so that they can avoid being forced to turn off some circuits.
PSO-Oklahoma’s Stan Whiteford said “the idea would be, if we get to that point, that we can drop the load, but that we can not leave our customers in the dark for very long, an hour.”
OG&E also asked customers to save energy in a message on social media.
OG&E said there are small steps customers can take:
“[S]et thermostats lower than usual, if health permits; avoid the use of large electrical appliances; turn off lights and appliances that you do not need or do not use. ‘
PSO Oklahoma said it would interrupt the power on orders from the Southwest Power Pool and said the process involved one-hour intervals.
PSO Oklahoma serves 232 cities and surrounding provinces in Oklahoma.