KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Authority that extremely cold temperatures across the region are creating unprecedented demands on the power system.
The Knoxville Utilities Board at around 1:30 p.m. that TVA lifted their rolling outage requirement. They also said crews would continue working to repair damage caused by strong winds. The Lenoir City Utilities Board said the same thing.
The Appalachian Electric Cooperative also said that the rolling blackouts have been terminated, but said because of high winds and downed trees some customers could still experience outages. They also asked people to reduce electricity use as much as possible without sacrificing safety to reduce demand on the power grid.
The City of Oak Ridge also said that TVA ended all rolling blackouts across the region, but also said people should try to conserve electricity where they can such as by not using washing machines, dryers or dishwashers. They should also try to retain heat in their homes keeping window coverings closed.
The Sevierville Electric System discontinued the TVA-requested blackouts, according to a tweet from Sevierville Police. They advise continuing to reduce power throughout the holiday weekend.
TVA was asking businesses and the public to help by immediately reducing electric power use "as much as possible without sacrificing safety," according to a Facebook post from the company.
"TVA and local power companies are proactively taking steps to temporarily reduce power supplies to certain local areas, which may create brief, intermittent power outages to homes and businesses," TVA said.
TVA said its team was actively working with local power companies and other regional utilities to minimize the duration of these rolling blackouts.
"We apologize for the inconvenience we know these conditions will cause, especially during a holiday period, but it is a necessary step to prevent far greater power interruptions affecting the entire area," TVA said.
Here are tips to reduce power use:
- Do not significantly turn down your heat, but lowering thermostats by one or two degrees makes a big difference
- Delay using washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and high-energy-use home appliances until later Saturday afternoon
- Keep window coverings closed on the non-sunny side of homes but open them if bright sunlight is available to provide additional heat
