Whetstone Valley Electric Asking Customers to Conserve Power for Next 48 Hours

Dave Page, General Manager of Whetstone Valley Electric Cooperative is asking his patrons to do what they can to conserve electricity for the next few days. Page said, “Due to the current widespread and extreme cold weather conditions, the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is requesting the region’s consumers to conserve energy to help reduce the demands on the power grid.”

SPP is a regional transmission organization that oversees the bulk electric grid and wholesale power market in the central United States on behalf of a diverse group of utilities and transmission companies in 17 states. East River Electric Power Cooperative is a transmission owner in SPP and Basin Electric Power Cooperative is an SPP market participant. East River Electric’s membership includes 24 distribution electric cooperatives and one municipal electric system in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota.

Page said, “East River’s membership and other market participants throughout the SPP region have been called upon by SPP to conserve energy beginning today for the next 48 hours to mitigate the risk of widespread and extended outages throughout our region.” He stressed, “All electric cooperative consumers in our region are affected by this event.”

Page offered, “Some tips to conserve energy during these extreme conditions include turning your thermostat down a few degrees, delaying the use of appliances such as clothes a washer and dryer, dishwasher, and turning off unnecessary lights.” He added, “Turn off electric heaters such as baseboard or space heaters in areas where heat is not required. Keep doors and blinds shut to retain heat.  Only plug in necessary vehicles or other outdoor equipment.”