The holiday cold weather is upon us. As of Friday morning, temperatures are averaging in the single digits across the entire region, pushing power demand past 30,000 MW. We expect power demand to remain near this level through Saturday.
In an effort to conserve electricity, we are asking the public to join us in taking some simple steps to reduce power use without impacting the holidays.
Public safety is our overriding priority, so do not significantly turn down your heat, but lowering thermostats by just one or two degrees makes a big difference.
Delay using washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and high-energy-use appliances until later on Saturday afternoon.
Keep window covering closed on the non-sunny side of homes but open them if bright sunlight is available to provide additional heat.
All available power generation units are online. We are purchasing additional power through its network of transmission interconnections that link to other regional utilities. We have suspended all non-emergency tests and maintenance for generating plants, switchyards, transmission lines, or other equipment that could impact the reliability of the power system. We expect this “conservative operations alert” to remain in effect until Sunday.
We will carefully monitor any changes in system condition and will communicate any additional necessary actions as soon as possible. The extreme cold is expected to last through the weekend before warmer temperatures return to the region early next week, which will reduce power demands to more seasonal levels.
