Barry Electric alerts members to imminent "load-shedding"
February 16, 2021
Sheila Harris
Barry Electric Co-op has issued a Peak Advisory Update to warn members that, as of 8 a.m. this morning, load-shedding is imminent.
"We do not know the exact time of the rolling blackouts that could affect our service territory," Barry Electric spokesperson Laura Holycross said.
According to Holycross, rolling blackout or rotational load shedding is an intentionally engineered electrical power shutdown in which electricity delivery is stopped. The goal is to reduce load by impacting a minimal amount of the system for a designated amount of time and then returning power to the affected area and moving to a different area of the system.
"This will be accomplished on our systems by de-energizing the entire substation; not just picking and choosing among individual members," she said. "The outage should last no longer than an hour, then the substation will be re-energized and another substation in the system will be turned off.
"Our supplier, KAMO Power, provides electricity to co-ops throughout a four-state area," Holycross said. "They will be watching their grid and making the decisions about which substations to shut down to balance the load on their power lines."
According to Holycross, Barry Electric has seven substations. She said the power outages should affect only one substation at a time, for periods of 45 minutes to an hour.
Barry Electric continues to encourage people to conserve as much electricity as possible. Turn off unnecessary lights, don't run multiple appliances and keep thermostats turned down, they say.
Sheila Harris
Barry Electric Co-op has issued a Peak Advisory Update to warn members that, as of 8 a.m. this morning, load-shedding is imminent.
"We do not know the exact time of the rolling blackouts that could affect our service territory," Barry Electric spokesperson Laura Holycross said.
According to Holycross, rolling blackout or rotational load shedding is an intentionally engineered electrical power shutdown in which electricity delivery is stopped. The goal is to reduce load by impacting a minimal amount of the system for a designated amount of time and then returning power to the affected area and moving to a different area of the system.
"This will be accomplished on our systems by de-energizing the entire substation; not just picking and choosing among individual members," she said. "The outage should last no longer than an hour, then the substation will be re-energized and another substation in the system will be turned off.
"Our supplier, KAMO Power, provides electricity to co-ops throughout a four-state area," Holycross said. "They will be watching their grid and making the decisions about which substations to shut down to balance the load on their power lines."
According to Holycross, Barry Electric has seven substations. She said the power outages should affect only one substation at a time, for periods of 45 minutes to an hour.
Barry Electric continues to encourage people to conserve as much electricity as possible. Turn off unnecessary lights, don't run multiple appliances and keep thermostats turned down, they say.