UPDATED 11 a.m. Tuesday: According to Midwest Energy, all customers now have power service as of 10:43 a.m. No further interruptions have been ordered at this time.
Midwest Energy
The Southwest Power Pool, which is the regional transmission operator for a 14-state region, issued a second Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) Level 3 at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday. An EEA3 is the highest of three levels of energy emergency alert and signals that SPP's operating reserves are below the required minimum.
As part of an EEA3, the SPP may ask member utilities to curtail energy use through controlled interruptions of service. When ordered by SPP, Midwest Energy will begin mandatory interruptions of service to non-critical facilities on a rotational basis, with each rotation lasting no more than two hours. Many of these interruptions would involve non-critical facilities, including oil field service and commercial loads, though some rural residential customers could also be affected. These circuits include: Oil field load in Ellis, Russell, Barton and Ness County, and various commercial loads (these have been coordinated directly with the affected businesses).
To further reduce loads, Midwest Energy is again asking customers whose health permits to turn thermostats down, and to not use appliances with heavy energy consumption, continuing through mid-week. A few specific actions customers can take include:
- If your health permits, turn your furnace thermostat down 3 to 5 degrees lower than normal.
- Postpone using high-consumption appliances such as clothes dryers, ovens and dishwashers. Delaying laundry a day or two, or making microwave-friendly meals, and hand-washing dishes would save significant amounts of energy.
- Turn off any lights and appliances that you are not using.
The record-breaking cold is also putting a significant strain on natural gas supplies. The cold weather is freezing off natural gas production, making less gas available for delivery to customers. Some pipelines are imposing cuts on the amount of gas available to customers, so Midwest Energy is asking its natural gas customers to conserve gas as well. We sincerely appreciate everyone’s efforts at conservation.