Jack Money
Published: Monday, February 15, 2021 5:10 p.m.
Updated: Monday, February 15, 2021 5:41 PM
Oklahomans may be wondering when their power will stop or return after local utility services, including Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., received a brief order Monday to initiate outages when electricity demand exceeded supply across the board. the country, where cold temperatures were well below normal.
Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the regional carrier that oversees the network serving parts or all of the 14 states between here and Canada, notified users in its system at 12:30 pm that it is ordering outages in certain parts of its system in a test. to conserve available power supplies.
The order was generated because electricity consumption exceeded the amount of production available and reductions were needed, officials said, to prevent further, more widespread and uncontrolled outages. It asked operators to reduce their service by about 1.5% of the maximum demand on Monday morning.
About 50 minutes later, the SPP withdrew its alert status to a level 2, suspending the need to interrupt options – at least for Monday afternoon.
“But things are changing. We expect our cargo to return later tonight and we could very well be in this situation, both inside and outside the necessary restrictions from now until Thursday, “said Lanny Nickell, SPP’s chief operating officer, on Monday afternoon. .
“In our history as a network operator, this is an unprecedented event and marks the first time that SPP has ever had to request controlled service interruptions. It is a last resort that we understand puts a burden on our member utilities and the customers we serve, but it is a step we consciously take to prevent aggravation of circumstances, which could lead to uncontrolled disruptions. even greater magnitude. ”
As for what can happen, meteorological and conservation efforts will play a central role in answering this question.
“It all depends on whether we have enough energy to meet demand,” Nickell said.