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By Sheldon Spackman

Being Prepared

City power grid keeping up with demand during cold snap

Jan 15, 2020 | 2:20 PM

Despite an increase in power demand in Red Deer over the past few days during the extreme cold snap, City officials remain confident the system can handle it.

Jim Jorgensen, electric, light and power manager with the City of Red Deer, says local capacity is strong.

“The system is performing alright, and I knock on wood because we will only respond to trouble as it pops up, and we hope that we don’t have to deal with that given the temperatures,” chuckles Jorgensen.

“Right now our demand is 125 megawatts, which is less than half of what the system can handle as far as delivery is concerned. The real concern comes in provincially and on the supply sides, so what all of the generation can do to provide the needs, or meet the needs to all of Alberta in the cold snap here.”

Jorgensen notes the time for system concerns is during the energy “rush hour,” between 4:00 – 8:00 p.m.

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“The recommendation, or the request, would be to make sure we’re having the least amount of impact on the system that we can, to put off any high power consumption activities until after that 8 o’clock, 9 o’clock hours in the evening,” adds Jorgensen.

“If you’re doing laundry or starting the dishwasher, those sorts of things, rather than starting it up at energy rush hour, if we can delay those sorts of activities until after the high demand has passed, that helps a lot.”

With most winters dishing out periods of extreme cold each year, Jorgensen says it’s important for people to be prepared by having some emergency supplies on-hand.

“Our system is operating in fairly good fashion right now but things can happen, and outages can occur, so whether or not the supply is adequate, there’s always still the delivery side of things,” says Jorgensen.

“Something crashes into the power pole or something interferes with the delivery system, residents could face an outage. Being prepared is always important, so blankets, candles, those sorts of things.”

In addition, Jorgensen warns residents not to be tempted to use barbecues, or combustion-related heaters indoors during a power outage if they occur.

“They require ventilation, can cause fire issues, all sorts of things,” he exclaims. “So resist the urge to use anything that is meant for outside because that can create bigger problems than the outage.”

When issues do arise however, Jorgensen says crews move quickly to restore power as fast as they can to try and limit the duration of outages.

“We have staffing available to respond to any trouble that arises,” explains Jorgensen. “We make sure that our staff are protected from the cold as well as they’re susceptible like everybody else. But making sure we have the right numbers when problems do arise, so we can respond as quickly and efficiently as we possibly can.”

Jorgensen is hopeful, however, that the current extreme cold temperatures will soon be just a distant memory.

“Conserve wherever and whenever you can,” he concludes. “That’s the big issue provincially. As mentioned, generating sources need to be able to handle that load or requirement for power. And also, given the cold temperatures, just be prepared.”