Friday, February 19, 7:00 AM
The Energy Emergency Alert Level remains at Level 1 this morning.
Thursday, February 18, 6:30 PM
The Energy Emergency Alert Level was stepped up to Level 1 by the Southwest Power Pool at 6:25 PM.
Thursday, February 18, 11:00 AM
At 9:30 AM, the Southwest Power Pool declared Level “0”, removing the emergency alert status. Although they remain in conservative operations through Saturday, February 20th, this is great news! We cannot thank our customers enough for your efforts to conserve this week, and your resilience in “powering through” this fluctuating situation.
Thursday, February 18, 8:00 AM
The Emergency Alert Level remains at Level 1 this morning. We will continue to update this page, and our social media pages as conditions fluctuate.
Wednesday, February 17
The Emergency Alert Level has fluctuated today between Levels 1 and 2, with the final level called at 10:59 PM, at Level 1. Energy efficiency measures are encouraged on Thursday.
Wednesday, February 17, 10:33 AM
NPPD has just announced that the Southwest Power Pool is now at Level 2, and rolling outages have thankfully been avoided thus far. That said, things do change quickly so please stay tuned. We will continue to keep you all informed of these rapidly changing conditions. Please continue your efforts to conserve energy.
Wednesday, February 17, 8:37 AM
We have been notified that rolling outages may begin after 9 AM this morning. We expect the first customers to be affected to include the villages of Wood River and Alda, as well as surrounding rural areas. We anticipate outages of approximately one hour.
Tuesday, February 16, 5:02 PM
Rolling outages are a continued possibility, and NPPD, our wholesale power provider, has indicated this possibility increases tonight and into tomorrow morning.
The rolling outages are implemented by NPPD, as directed from the Southwest Power Pool. Please remain aware that this may continue to occur, and the opportunity to provide advance notice is unfortunately very limited.
Your efforts to conserve power do make a difference, so we thank you all for your efforts with this over the past few days. We will continue to provide updates to you as we are able. Please have a safe evening as we continue to work through these challenging days.
Tuesday, February 16 1:30 PM
For the time being, the rolling outages have paused. The situation is fluid however, and subject to being activated again very rapidly. Please remain aware that this possibility exists today, and tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 16 Update, 9:30 AM
The next wave of rolling outages has just been implemented, affecting customers east of Doniphan, including Giltner and Stockham, and the Aurora I-80 area. Also customers in northern Phelps County–south of Elm Creek. We anticipate one hour, we will advise you of changes.
Tuesday, February 16 Update, 7:20 AM
Southern Public Power District has been informed that rolling outages are underway again this morning.
At this time no SPPD customers are impacted, but we were notified of potential outages in one area we serve.
Customers in Hall County may be affected this morning. The potential area is located west and north of Grand Island. The area would extend from Alda, to the north.
The town of Alda is not included in this outage, but the village of Cairo would be included in this outage.
The outage would last 30 minutes once it begins.
The details of these outages unfold very quickly, so when we hear for certain that this outage is imminent, we will notify you here as soon as possible.
As for all of our customers, again, we will do our best to pass on information as quickly as we receive it. We thank you for your patience, and we will work hard to take care of you.
Issued Monday, February 15, 5:40 PM
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) has reduced the Energy Emergency Alert Level to Level 2. This means that the interruptions in power have ceased–for now.
But temperatures are still low across a wide swath of the United States. There is potential that Level 3 could be issued again now through tomorrow. This situation is affecting electrical consumers not only in Nebraska, but stretching from the Dakotas south toward northern Texas.
Unfortunately, we do not know exactly “when” or “where” an outage may occur, and it happens quickly once Level 3 has been issued.
What we can tell you is this…the outages have been brief—30 minutes in length. Today customers in Franklin County were affected, as were customers in Chapman and surrounding rural areas.
For now, please continue with energy efficiency measures. READ MORE
As we are informed about these outages now through tomorrow, we will do our best to keep lines of communication open with you. Follow us on our Facebook or Twitter pages for any updates relating to Energy Emergency Alerts.
We also urge you to CALL US to report any outage you are experiencing, at 800-579-3019. Do not report your outage to our social media channels, we need to hear from you with a phone call in order to dispatch an lineworker to you.
What are the levels, and what do they mean?
(Source: Southwest Power Pool)
Energy Emergency Alert Level 1: Declared when all available resources have been committed to meet obligations, and SPP is at risk of not meeting required operating reserves.
Energy Emergency Alert Level 2: Declared when SPP can no longer provide expected energy requirements and is an Energy Deficient Entity, or when SPP foresees or has implemented procedures up to, but excluding, interruption of firm load commitments.
Energy Emergency Alert Level 3: At this level, SPP is utilizing operating reserves such that it is carrying reserves below the required minimum and has initiated assistance through the Reserve Sharing Group. Declared when SPP foresees or has implemented firm load obligation interruption.
