City of Russell
RUSSELL - The effects of widespread and extreme cold weather have led to an increasingly tightening condition in the Southwest Power Pools (SPP) service territory, of which Russell is a part. SPP has requested utilities in their service area to conserve energy until further notice to mitigate the risk of outages.
The City of Russell has natural gas and diesel electric generation units.
The city cannot run the natural gas generation due to the high demand for natural gas and priority given to heating.
However, the City will run its diesel generation units, covering a portion of the City’s customers electric usage.
However, with the high demand for electricity, inadequate supply of natural gas, and other variables, our customers are asked to reduce their electric usage to ensure the electric grid's safety and integrity and that our internal generation can cover the demand.
This is not a Russell issue, or a Kansas issue, but a regional issue affecting numerous states in the Midwest.