The massive winter storm that swept across the nation this week has left 5 million people without power as utilities have been forced to implement rolling power outages, Bloomberg reported.
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP), which manages a 14-state grid from North Dakota to Oklahoma, on Tuesday ordered the second day of rolling blackouts, the news outlet reported.
SPP executive vice president and chief operating officer Lanny Nickell said in a statement that the move was a “last resort” and SPP had never before ordered such interruptions.
“It’s a last resort that we understand puts a burden on our member utilities and the customers they serve but it’s a step we’re consciously taking to prevent circumstances from getting worse, which could result in uncontrolled outages of even greater magnitude,” Nickell said in a statement.
After declaring an Energy Emergency Alert Level 3 at 10:08 a.m. this morning, and after exhausting all other options to ensure the continued reliability of the regional grid, SPP is directing member utilities to implement controlled interruptions of service effective immediately. pic.twitter.com/I6DY8B5Rvn
— Southwest Power Pool (@SPPorg) February 15, 2021
“I’ve been following energy markets and grid issues for a while, and I cannot recall an extreme weather event that impacted such a large swath of the nation in this manner — the situation is critical,” Neil Chatterjee of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told Bloomberg.
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Almost 5 million without power as massive winter storm stresses 14-state grid https://t.co/7Pi6lcPJKH pic.twitter.com/5OAmQTFXlD
— The Hill (@thehill) February 16, 2021
This may have a very negative impact on the vaccination plans. No reliable power to keep the vaccine at proper temps.
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