SPRINGFIELD, Missouri (KY3) – Three of the largest electricity providers in the Ozarks region are asking customers to conserve energy when possible due to the limited supply of natural gas amid cold weather.
Liberty Utilities accompanied Springfield City Utilities and White River Valley Electric Company with the order on Sunday. Energy suppliers say natural gas peaked in demand during the cold spell. Natural gas wells are freezing in southwest Missouri, leading to limited supplies.
“This is an unprecedented weather event that is affecting not only all of our customers, but also customers of natural gas utilities across the Midwest,” said Gary Gibson, General Manager and CEO, City Utilities of Springfield, “ Our priority with all the services we offer is to keep our customers safe and secure that we are doing everything we can during this severe winter event. “
“Electricity providers across the Midwest are seeing unprecedented demand on the grid due to extreme weather conditions and soaring natural gas prices,” the White River Valley Electric Company said in a press release.
“We know that conserving energy during this period can be inconvenient and we apologize for that,” said Tim Wilson, Vice President of Electrical Operations at Liberty. “We are very grateful to our customers for their help in reducing energy consumption. This will help us maintain service for homes, businesses and critical facilities during these exceptional weather conditions. Our teams work 24 hours a day to keep our systems safe and operational. We will continue to provide updates to our customers throughout this event. ”
Springfield City Utilities is offering the following recommendations to help conserve energy:
- Lower the thermostat by at least 2 degrees from the normal setting. 68 degrees is the suggested average setting for winter.
- Limit the use of natural gas fireplaces.
- Limit the use of plug-in electric heaters.
- Lower the temperature setting on your water heater.
- Look for other opportunities in your home to decrease the use of electricity and natural gas during this short period.
White River Valley Electric Company is specifically asking customers to reduce electricity usage during peak hours from 6 am to 10 am and from 4 pm to 8 pm.
The company also offers the following tips for Branson customers to reduce electricity:
- Rotate and keep the thermostat below 2-3 degrees.
- Minimize the use of major devices at the same time.
- Use space heaters sparingly.
- Seal around drafty doors and windows
- Change the oven filters.
- Turn down the thermostats for electric water heaters.
- Turn off the lights and disconnect devices that are not in use.
Liberty Utilities issued a peak alert from 6 pm on Sunday to midnight on Tuesday. Customers are being asked to limit usage from 6 am to 10 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm
The company offered the following recommendations for conserving energy:
- Set the thermostats to 65 degrees or as low as comfortable. Elderly customers or those with health problems complicated by the cold should not lower the thermostat.
- Turn off and unplug computers, monitors, chargers, printers and televisions during periods of inactivity.
- Turn off nonessential lights.
- Defer all non-essential energy use.
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