After dropping the Energy Emergency Level earlier Wednesday, the Southwest Power Pool has increased it once again.
The SPP raised the Energy Emergency to Level Two according to Evergy Spokesperson Gina Penzig in an email to KVOE News Wednesday evening. Penzig says the SPP’s communication regarding a return to phase three, reflecting the potential for additional rolling blackouts like those utilized Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, has not reached the same level it had in previous days.
Penzig says Evergy will continue to “hold steady and monitor the situation” as it had throughout the day Wednesday. Additional information and updates can be found on the SPP’s Facebook page.
Stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for more updates as they become available.
4 pm Wednesday: Return of rolling blackouts becoming less likely as Southwest Power Pool drops to Level One Energy Emergency
The risk for rolling power outages across Kansas hasn’t gone away, however, the possibility is getting slimmer.
The Southwest Power Pool dropped to an Energy Emergency Level One earlier Wednesday afternoon. Despite the drop in levels, local utilities are still urging conservation measures while natural gas and other energy providers to our south struggle to return to normal operations after extreme cold so far this week — and operational differences in energy distribution between Kansas and states further south is part of the reason why Evergy has enough power for its customers while Oklahoma and Texas do not.
60th District Representative Mark Schreiber of Emporia offered his perspective on KVOE’s 7:05 am newscast Wednesday after two straight days of rolling blackouts earlier this week and the prospect of a third Wednesday. He says Oklahoma and Texas have more exposed equipment than they do in Kansas because the freezing risk is lower the further south you go. Schreiber was a longtime executive of Westar, Evergy’s predecessor, before becoming a lawmaker, and he says Kansas has been well served by its energy approach — so he says any changes shouldn’t be done rashly.
The bitter cold that pushed overnight lows under -10 in Emporia also spilled south to the Texas Gulf Coast, causing overnight lows of around zero as far south as Ardmore, Oklahoma, earlier this week. That has generated nightmare scenarios for natural gas and other energy providers in both Texas and Oklahoma as natural gas well heads froze and that energy has not been freed to this point. Energy prices, especially those on the spot market, have shot up 100 to 120 times the prices before the extreme cold hammered the central third of the United States.
Before the current cold was even part of the picture, Schreiber introduced a bill to create an energy planning task force to look at situational response with the end goal of statewide resilience with any power grid issues. So far this session, lawmakers have been discussing a plan that would halt immediate compensation to utilities for building energy transmission. The Kansas Corporation Commission is now opposing that idea because utilities need to invest in their systems.
11:00 am Wednesday: WEATHER: Kansas lawmakers discussing adjustments with third round of rolling blackouts not yet ruled out
The risk for rolling power outages across Kansas hasn’t gone away, even though the peak time for that potential has passed.
Both Evergy and 4 Rivers remain on standby, awaiting word from the Southwest Power Pool on whether the local utilities will have to enact a third straight day of short-term outages. The initial window was from 8 pm Tuesday to 11 am Wednesday, and the Power Pool had its peak usage at around 9 am but did not need to “shed load.”
Both utilities have been urging conservation measures while natural gas and other energy providers to our south struggle to return to normal operations after extreme cold so far this week — and operational differences in energy distribution between Kansas and states further south is part of the reason why Evergy has enough power for its customers while Oklahoma and Texas do not.
60th District Representative Mark Schreiber of Emporia offered his perspective on KVOE’s 7:05 am newscast Wednesday after two straight days of rolling blackouts earlier this week and the prospect of a third Wednesday. He says Oklahoma and Texas have more exposed equipment than they do in Kansas because the freezing risk is lower the further south you go. Schreiber was a longtime executive of Westar, Evergy’s predecessor, before becoming a lawmaker, and he says Kansas has been well served by its energy approach — so he says any changes shouldn’t be done rashly.
The bitter cold that pushed overnight lows under -10 in Emporia also spilled south to the Texas Gulf Coast, causing overnight lows of around zero as far south as Ardmore, Oklahoma, earlier this week. That has generated nightmare scenarios for natural gas and other energy providers in both Texas and Oklahoma as natural gas well heads froze and that energy has not been freed to this point. Energy prices, especially those on the spot market, have shot up 100 to 120 times the prices before the extreme cold hammered the central third of the United States.
Before the current cold was even part of the picture, Schreiber introduced a bill to create an energy planning task force to look at situational response with the end goal of statewide resilience with any power grid issues. So far this session, lawmakers have been discussing a plan that would halt immediate compensation to utilities for building energy transmission. The Kansas Corporation Commission is now opposing that idea because utilities need to invest in their systems.
