Planned outages, frozen pipes, energy conservation


Planned outages, frozen pipes, energy conservation

As temperatures plummeted to record-breaking lows Monday, the Omaha Public Power District said it got an emergency order from Southwest Power Pool to implement planned outages. “We have never been in this kind of situation,” OPPD President and CEO Tim Burke said. Southwest Power Pool manages the grid for OPPD, NPPD, LES in Lincoln and utilities in 14 states stretching from Texas to the Canadian border. Burke said the blast of winter impacting much of the central U.S. not only drove up demand, but it impacted supply across the SPP system too. “They are having these issues that are occurring primarily in the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma that are restricting some gas flow and then…we’re seeing a pretty significant reduction of wind,” Burke said. Monday, power got cut for around 10,000 customers in Bellevue and South Omaha for an hour. According to Burke, OPPD is alerted only a few minutes before planned outages. He said it’s all meant to prevent something much worse. “You do these planned outages so you don’t have a blackout,” Burke said. Monday afternoon, SPP released an update reading:”After directing its member utilities to implement controlled interruptions of service shortly after noon on Feb. 15, Southwest Power Pool (SPP) has restored load to its 14-state region as of 2:00 p.m. Central time. The grid operator now has enough generation available to meet demand throughout its service territory and to fully meet its minimum reserve requirements.” The release goes onto say: “SPP’s forecasts anticipate that due to high load and persistent cold weather, it is likely its system will fluctuate between EEA Levels 2 and 3 over the next 48 hours and may have to direct further interruptions of service if available generation is inadequate to meet high demand.” OPPD asked for the public’s help through things like unplugging items you’re not using and avoiding running the washer, dryer or dishwasher for the time being. They also ask that people turn down the thermostat a couple of degrees, if possible. That is a sentiment echoed by the Metropolitan Utilities District, as many heating systems require both electricity and natural gas to run. “For every degree you turn it back, it saves 1 to 3% of energy, and little things make a big difference,” MUD President Mark Doyle said. Doyle said MUD is running at full capacity, meeting demand. “Record day yesterday, more gas send out than ever in the history of the utility,” he said. Doyle also said the planned outages through OPPD have not impacted the MUD, and the two utility companies have been working closely.”We have our facilities at the top of the priority list to not be involved,” Doyle said of the planned outages.Another major concern during the cold snap? Freezing pipes. You may wonder, if you lose power and heat, how can you prevent it?”If you let your water trickle a little bit, that definitely keeps the water moving,” Doyle said, “You don’t need your power at home to trickle your water.”Mark Evans, owner of Burton AC, Heating, Plumbing and More, said frozen pipes are the main problem they are encountering right now. In addition to letting pipes drip, he offered this advice. “Make sure you keep your garage door shut all the time. A lot of houses have that bathroom above the garage, and that’s a great place for pipes to start freezing if the garage door is left open. We usually say all the interior doors, including cabinet doors, where you know you have problems, leave those open so you can get some heat under there,” Evans said. Evans also recommended using heat tape on your pipes. He said, if you notice your water stops running, it’s likely your pipes may have frozen. His advice then: Turn off the main water source.

As temperatures plummeted to record-breaking lows Monday, the Omaha Public Power District said it got an emergency order from Southwest Power Pool to implement planned outages.

“We have never been in this kind of situation,” OPPD President and CEO Tim Burke said.

Southwest Power Pool manages the grid for OPPD, NPPD, LES in Lincoln and utilities in 14 states stretching from Texas to the Canadian border.

Burke said the blast of winter impacting much of the central U.S. not only drove up demand, but it impacted supply across the SPP system too.

“They are having these issues that are occurring primarily in the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma that are restricting some gas flow and then…we’re seeing a pretty significant reduction of wind,” Burke said.

Monday, power got cut for around 10,000 customers in Bellevue and South Omaha for an hour.

According to Burke, OPPD is alerted only a few minutes before planned outages. He said it’s all meant to prevent something much worse.

“You do these planned outages so you don’t have a blackout,” Burke said.

Monday afternoon, SPP released an update reading:

“After directing its member utilities to implement controlled interruptions of service shortly after noon on Feb. 15, Southwest Power Pool (SPP) has restored load to its 14-state region as of 2:00 p.m. Central time. The grid operator now has enough generation available to meet demand throughout its service territory and to fully meet its minimum reserve requirements.”

The release goes onto say:

“SPP’s forecasts anticipate that due to high load and persistent cold weather, it is likely its system will fluctuate between EEA Levels 2 and 3 over the next 48 hours and may have to direct further interruptions of service if available generation is inadequate to meet high demand.”

OPPD asked for the public’s help through things like unplugging items you’re not using and avoiding running the washer, dryer or dishwasher for the time being.

They also ask that people turn down the thermostat a couple of degrees, if possible.

That is a sentiment echoed by the Metropolitan Utilities District, as many heating systems require both electricity and natural gas to run.

“For every degree you turn it back, it saves 1 to 3% of energy, and little things make a big difference,” MUD President Mark Doyle said.

Doyle said MUD is running at full capacity, meeting demand.

“Record day yesterday, more gas send out than ever in the history of the utility,” he said.

Doyle also said the planned outages through OPPD have not impacted the MUD, and the two utility companies have been working closely.

“We have our facilities at the top of the priority list to not be involved,” Doyle said of the planned outages.

Another major concern during the cold snap? Freezing pipes.

You may wonder, if you lose power and heat, how can you prevent it?

“If you let your water trickle a little bit, that definitely keeps the water moving,” Doyle said, “You don’t need your power at home to trickle your water.”

Mark Evans, owner of Burton AC, Heating, Plumbing and More, said frozen pipes are the main problem they are encountering right now.

In addition to letting pipes drip, he offered this advice.

“Make sure you keep your garage door shut all the time. A lot of houses have that bathroom above the garage, and that’s a great place for pipes to start freezing if the garage door is left open. We usually say all the interior doors, including cabinet doors, where you know you have problems, leave those open so you can get some heat under there,” Evans said.

Evans also recommended using heat tape on your pipes.

He said, if you notice your water stops running, it’s likely your pipes may have frozen. His advice then: Turn off the main water source.


Source link