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- Order lets SPP use backup generators before a level three emergency alert
- SPP’s West region will remain under a conservative operations advisory until Aug 1
- Friday import losses left SPP with thin reserves, but voluntary conservation avoided outages
July 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Department on Sunday issued an emergency order authorizing the grid operator serving parts of 17 states to deploy idle power sources to help prevent heat wave blackouts.
The order directed grid operator Southwest Power Pool to dispatch generation units as needed to maintain reliability for a territory that is home to 20 million people and stretches from North Dakota to Louisiana.
The DOE’s order came shortly after SPP warned that emergency conditions are likely to persist during peak-demand periods, underscoring the region’s vulnerability to power plant outages, declines in wind generation and disruptions in imported electricity.
The order also authorized SPP to direct backup generation resources to operate as a last resort before declaring a level three emergency alert, which can be one of the final steps before a grid operator orders rotating outages. DOE said it issued the order at SPP’s request.
“The Trump administration is tapping into an abundant supply of unused backup generation to maintain affordable, reliable and secure power for hardworking American families and businesses,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement.
The risk of rotating blackouts escalated in SPP during the past week. On Friday, a sudden loss of electricity imported from neighboring grids left SPP with razor-thin reserves for possible power plant outages and falling renewable generation in its territory spanning parts of Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah.
SPP avoided outages that day by appealing for voluntary conservation of electricity to maintain reserves. But SPP expects the western territory’s highest demand of the week on Sunday evening as temperatures rise above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius).
Usually SPP is a net exporter of electricity because of its massive base of wind generation. Last week’s heat meant neighboring grids could not provide much power to SPP because they faced the same weather-driven high demand.
SPP said its West region will remain until August 1 in a conservative operations advisory, which was issued to raise awareness of potential threats to the grid’s reliability.
“Our West is likely to continue to experience advisories and energy emergency alert conditions, particularly during periods of high customer demand,” SPP said in a statement.
Reporting By Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Sergio Non, Cynthia Osterman and Chris Reese
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