OG&E officials released an update at around 3 pm Monday, saying they would no longer implement continuous blackouts after Southwest Power Pool’s announcement of an energy emergency for the region.
At a 2 pm news conference, Southwest Power Pool officials said enough energy had been generated to move Oklahoma back to Energy Emergency Alert level 2.
At noon, more than 20,000 OG&E customers lost power in all parts of the service area, including more than 6,000 customers in Oklahoma City.
OG&E said this blackout should last about an hour.
“The SPP directed us to implement temporary service interruptions,” said Brian Alford, a spokesman for OG&E. “These are going to be controlled short-term interruptions and may continue until the middle of the week.”
OG&E said that while continuous blackouts have been lifted, there is still a possibility that conditions will change. David Kimmel of OG&E told News 9 that they are trying to warn families in advance about when they can lose energy, but unfortunately there is no way to notify everyone.
Kimmel said those who experience power outages should not wait for another 24 hours.
The SPP declared a level 3 power emergency alert shortly after 10 am on Monday and utility companies in the Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas region would initiate controlled outages.
Less than three hours later, blackouts began in the Oklahoma area.
OG&E said the energy emergency was due to several factors resulting from the generalized, prolonged and extreme cold. Factors include high electricity usage across the SPP system and limited wind power and availability of natural gas.
OG&E said customers can help by taking simple conservation measures, such as:
- Adjust thermostats lower than normal if health permits
- Postpone the use of important electrical appliances such as stoves, dishwashers and clothes dryers until noon or after 9 pm, when the demand for electricity decreases
- Turn off electrical lights and appliances that you don’t need or are not using
- Companies should minimize the use of electrical lighting and equipment that consume electricity as much as possible
- Large electricity consumers should consider shutting down or reducing non-essential production processes
“We have joined SPP and all utility companies in Oklahoma and the region, asking customers to help reduce electricity use in the safest way possible,” said Alford.
Other utility companies across the state have announced that they will begin implementing continuous blackouts. They are expected to last about an hour and will continue for the next few days.
Oklahoma Electric Cooperative announced that it managed its first continuous blackout for about 600 members in the Newcastle area.
The city of Edmond said it will try to warn residents before a continuous blackout begins.