Rolling blackouts affect Southwest Power Pool members

Areas serviced by Elkhorn Rural Public Power District experienced service interruptions Monday, and more disruptions were expected Tuesday, as brisk temperatures and extreme wind chills led to an increased demand for electricity supplied by the Southwest Power Pool.

The SPP is a regional transmission organization overseeing the bulk electric grid and wholesale power market in 14 states, including Nebraska.

The SPP declared an Energy Emergency Alert level three Monday and again early Tuesday morning, causing rolling blackouts to be implemented.

ERPPD expected outages in the eastern portion of its service area, Tuesday

The alert was expected to be in effect through Wednesday.

According to communications issued by SPP, "system-wide generating capacity has dropped below our current load of approximately 42 gigawatts due to extremely low temperatures and inadequate supplies of natural gas.

"We'll be working with our member utilities to implement controlled interruptions of electric service throughout our region. This is done as a last resort to preserve the reliability of the electric system as a whole. Individuals in the SPP service territory should take steps to conserve energy use and follow their local utilities' instructions regarding conservation, local conditions and the potential for outages to their homes and businesses."

Power outages lasted approximately 30 minutes.

A peak of above 44.6 GW was expected around 9 a.m., Tuesday.

Customers can take several measures to decrease demand, including turning thermostats down three degrees, unless health conditions would be jeopardized; unplugging unnecessary appliances, turning off items in sleep mode and closing fireplace dampers.

Installing weatherstripping on doorways and ensuring windows are airtight will also lessen the load.