Extreme heat prompts Oklahoma grid operator to issue advisory

Southwest Power Pool

 

Electricity demand due to the extreme heat wave in Oklahoma and the rest of the Midwest prompted the regional grid operator, the Southwest Power Pool, to issue a an advisory but one that does not require consumers to conserve electricity.

The SPP issued a Conservative Operations Advisory Thursday afternoon for all of its 14-state Balancing Authority which includes: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

The advisory will be effective 12 p.m. central time on Friday, July 15 with an anticipated end by Friday night at 10 o’clock. As the SPP stated in the notice, Conservative Operations Advisories do not require the public to conserve energy.

This advisory is being declared due to high loads and resource availability. As a result, the SPP Balancing Authority may use greater unit commitment notification timeframes, including making commitments prior to Day-Ahead Market and/or committing Resources in Reliability Status.

SPP issues Conservative Operations Advisories when SPP there is a need to operate its system conservatively based on weather, environmental, operational, terrorist, cyber or other events.