Grid issues heat advisories for western states

Western U.S. states under the Southwest Power Pool grid were put on a Resource Advisory this week because of the heat wave rolling across that part of the country.

The West Balancing Authority area was informed Tuesday evening and informed the Advisory would be in effect until sometime Thursday. The advisory is still considered normal operating conditions and did not require any public energy conservation efforts, nor was the public asked to take any action. The SPP said the advisories are issued to raise awareness of potential threats to reliability among entities responsible for operating transmission and generation facilities.

SPP’s East BA area remains under baseline normal operating conditions. Find a map of SPP’s East and West BA areas here.

• This Resource Advisory in SPP’s West BA area is being declared due to potential forecast uncertainty including higher than normal loads and outages, seasonally hot temperatures, and the potential for lower wind and solar. This means demand could potentially be higher than expected due to more people using electricity during peak hours. Supply could potentially be lower than normal due to forced outages. Forecasts indicate seasonally severe hot temperatures in some areas, which cause greater load, especially if they take place during peak hours. Wind and solar generation could potentially be lower than the expected forecast.
• Individuals should contact their local utility for details specific to their area.
• Generation and transmission operators have been provided instructions on applicable procedures, including reporting any limitations, fuel shortages or concerns.
• To mitigate risks to reliability associated with these factors, SPP may use greater unit commitment notification timeframes, including making commitments before standard day-ahead market procedures and/or committing resources in reliability status.
• SPP will send additional information if necessary.