Crews work on power lines along Meridian Street near the intersection with Surina Way in 2018 in Greenwood.
Daily Journal file photo
An energy operator that delivers electric power to Indiana and 14 other states is warning of possible electric shortages this summer as extreme heat combines with increased demand.
Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), an independent, not-for-profit organization that delivers electric power across 15 U.S. states — including Indiana — and the Canadian province of Manitoba, is warning that there could be a shortage of electricity during peak usage times, according to Johnson County REMC, the county’s electric cooperative. JCREMC serves over 27,000 customers in Johnson County and portions of Morgan, Shelby, and Brown counties.
Any shortages are most likely to happen on days when extreme heat and humidity cover a substantial portion of the region. If the shortage reaches a critical stage, MISO will implement measures to curtail usage and preserve the integrity of the national grid, JCREMC officials said.
JCREMC is not the only utility warning of the possibility of shortages. The town of Edinburgh — through its electric utility Edinburgh Power and Light — is also warning of potential shortages.
While Edinburgh Power and Light is not anticipating any rolling blackouts, residents should be aware it is a real possibility. Officials believe that the town’s electrical supply will be adequate for the high temperatures expected this week, Town Manager Dan Cartwright wrote in a Facebook post.
“The extreme temperatures this week will be a real test for our electric grid,” Cartwright said.
With temperatures forecasted to be in or near the 90s this week, officials say conscientious electric use is critical.
The National Weather Service in Indianapolis is forecasting the high on Thursday to be around 92 degrees for Johnson County, and to be around 88 degrees on Friday. Throughout the Midwest and the South, high temperatures were expected to affect over 100 million people, the Associated Press reported.
Both Edinburgh and JCREMC officials are asking customers to help reduce the load on the power grid by running large appliances and charging electric vehicles during off-peak times. Peak times are generally between 2 to 8 p.m. daily, officials said.
Businesses and industries should conserve electrical usage as well, and customers should move thermostats up a few degrees to help reduce the load, officials said.
“Please set your air conditioner thermostats to what your least comfortable temperature might be,” Cartwright said.
If MISO calls for curtailment, JCREMC would start with public appeals for voluntary electricity reductions. If the voluntary reductions do not produce enough of an effect, the company will be required to implement rotating power outages. JCREMC has emergency operating procedures in place for these situations, officials said.
All JCREMC customers would be impacted, along with other electric consumers throughout the region. If implemented, the cooperative’s approach would be to implement shorter rotating outages of up to 30 minutes. They do not expect any long-duration outages, officials said.
While JCREMC has not completely ruled out the possibility of brownouts or rolling blackouts this summer, the cooperative has not received alerts from MISO asking for any type of load curtailment, said Jennifer Stewart-Burton, a JCREMC spokesperson.
“We continue asking our consumers to voluntarily conserve electricity as we approach our peak usage period, which is generally 2-8 p.m.,” she said.
Officials with Duke Energy, which serves about 34,000 customers in Johnson County, said the utility prepares carefully to meet electricity demand and communicates daily with MISO, said McKenzie Barbknecht, a Duke Energy spokesperson.
Most of Duke Energy’s planning focuses on preparing for reliable operations during extreme conditions — both summer heat and winter cold — when power demand is at its highest. For example, Duke Energy does comprehensive long-term planning to ensure adequate power reserves and does advance maintenance on power units before times of higher electricity demand, Barbknecht said.
The utility also makes arrangements to supplement its own power generation when needed with power purchases from the MISO market, Barbknecht said.
MISO had first projected the need for increased electric imports and potential emergency resources to meet peak summer demand in April. The organization’s seasonal assessment had indicated that capacity shortfalls in MISO’s north and central regions could leave these areas at an increased risk of temporary controlled outages to preserve the integrity of the bulk electric system, officials said in a news release.
Indiana is located in MISO’s central region.
MISO and its members are prepared to monitor and respond to challenging operating conditions, as hot weather and peak summer conditions are expected to continue to extend across the MISO coverage area this week.
The organization has a large and diverse footprint, which gives it several options for obtaining and sending power to where it is needed, Brandon Morris, a MISO spokesperson said Wednesday afternoon.
“We prepared several days ahead of the summer heat wave by declaring alerts and advisories,” Morris said. “These actions allow MISO and its members to identify all available generation and known transmission issues prior to the event.”
These actions included issuing a capacity advisory, a hot weather alert, a maximum generation alert and declaring conservative operations for Wednesday, he said.
