SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - There were more than 30,000 SWEPCO customers in Bossier and Caddo Parishes who did not have power.
On Saturday, April 26, around 4:30 p.m., SWEPCO said they were notified by the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) of a grid protection event that may cause disruption within the SWEPCO service area. Bossier Parish will see outages until SPP directs SWEPCO to restore power.
“Temporary emergency grid protection outages are now in effect across parts of our service territory in Bossier Parish.
The SWEPCO team works with the Southwest Power Pool to manage the flow of electricity in our area. SPP required us to take emergency outages in specific areas on the power lines that provide our customers with service. This action was taken to prevent conditions that could cause widespread damage to power lines and equipment that could take days or longer to fix. We are working and coordinating with SPP and will provide additional updates as soon as possible.
The outages are primarily affecting customers in Northwest Louisiana, primarily in Bossier and Caddo parishes. Please know we always strive to provide our customers with advance notice of an outage whenever possible, and unfortunately that was not possible in this emergency situation. In this instance, our grid operators were instructed to take immediate action, which did not give us time to inform you before the outage occurred.”
At 9 p.m., SWPECO gave another update stating they were in the process of restoring power to customers throughout the hour. They said they expect all outages to be resolved Saturday night. By 9:13 p.m., there were 8,747 SWEPCO customers still waiting to have their power restored.
On April 27, SWEPCO released an update on the situation. The company says that the grid conditions are currently stable.
“We want to assure you that grid conditions are currently stable. The Southwest Power Pool (SPP), our regional transmission organization, has confirmed that the situation has improved, and we are continuing to monitor it closely,” says SWEPCO.
Southwest Power Pool is the Balancing Authority and Reliability Coordinator for a 14-state region, which includes SWEPCO service in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. Sometimes, SPP’s responsibilities is to work with owners and operators of generation and transmission facilities to operate the regional power grid safely and balance between supply and demand.
“SPP is essential for maintaining grid reliability through key activities such as monitoring the grid 24/7, anticipating problems, and taking preemptive action. When risks are detected, they direct SWEPCO and other utilities to take action, ensuring a coordinated regional response. Operating independently and complying with over 5,500 pages of reliability standards, the RTO plays a crucial role in delivering safe and reliable electricity to consumers,” explains SWEPCO.
WHY WOULD SWEPCO DISCONNECT POWER DURING A REGIONAL POWER GRID EMERGENCY?
If Southwest Power Pool declares an emergency requiring utilities to reduce the electric load on the regional power grid, SWEPCO puts its emergency plan into action. As the regional power grid operator, SPP would require the action as a last resort to avoid widespread power loss and to prevent long-term damage to the regional electric system. The action may be due to extreme temperatures, unexpected electric system problems, tight supplies of electricity across the region, or other power grid emergencies. SWEPCO would implement a series of controlled outages that temporarily interrupt power to customers in parts of its service territory, rotating the outages whenever possible so that customers are not without power any longer than necessary.
Go here to check the outage map.
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