KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Passing along a warning it's seeing from its power provider, KUB is asking customers to take steps to reduce energy use as a result of this week's sweeping snowstorm.
“We appreciate our customers joining us in these steps to reduce the strain on TVA’s grid,” Gabriel J. Bolas, president and CEO of KUB, said in a prepared statement released Tuesday afternoon.
“While this is a precautionary measure, it can have a big impact as we work to meet the demand for electricity.”
According to KUB, which gets its power from utility giant Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA has alerted it that "its power supply is experiencing an increased demand caused by extremely cold temperatures. TVA has alerted KUB and other local power companies that increased conservation efforts are necessary to extend the available power supply and avoid service interruptions."
To help out the provider, KUB is asking its customers to do things like lower their thermostats, put off using big appliances like dishwashers and dryers, and to stop "non-essential" use of electricity such as decorative lighting.
Also, according to KUB, businesses "should minimize lighting and turn off all office equipment that is not in use or necessary."
TVA's request comes 13 months after it experienced power blackouts that alarmed users in its service area amid a sub-freezing snap. TVA has said repeatedly, including in interviews with WBIR, that it has taken steps through system and power plant upgrades to ensure such blackouts don't happen again.
TVA also has said, however, that power demand is expected to be very high this week as a deep freeze moves across East Tennessee.
Low temperatures in the single digits early Wednesday likely will boost demand, TVA spokesman Scott Brooks told WBIR on Tuesday.
"We can say that we are doing everything we can and have been doing for the last year to be as prepared as we can for the temperatures that we're expecting to see on Wednesday morning," Brooks said.
Patterns have shown that demand increases from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. as households wake up and start preparing for the day, he said.
"That usually leads to a spike in energy usage and energy demand, not only from people who may be turning the thermostat up a little bit when they get up in the morning, but also just those heating units having to work that much harder to try to keep up when temperatures go below freezing," he said.
TVA is communicating with the more than 150 power companies that contract for its electricity. It will keep giving updates on how demand is affecting its grid, Brooks said.
"So we are maintaining that partnership and that constant contact with local power companies," Brooks said.
