Rolling Blackouts and the Grid

Published on Saturday, August 31, 2024 in Electric

Over the last few years, the electric grid that spans Michigan and several neighboring states has faced the potential of rolling blackouts due to increasing demand and decreasing supply. We have details about what is causing this dilemma at teammidwest.com/reliability, and you may have read some information in past issues of Country Lines.

Bottom line: If the grid becomes too taxed, one of our grid operators (a third party that manages electric supply for the nation’s grid) may tell us that we need to ask you to turn down your power. If the emergency becomes too extreme, they’ll tell us to implement rolling blackouts.

However, there are a lot things that happen behind the scenes to monitor the grid and try to prevent rolling blackouts.

Grid Monitoring and Electric Supply/Demand

We don’t generate power; we get it from Wolverine Power Cooperative. Even though Wolverine has secured more than enough power for MEC members, we share the grid and its power supply with other utilities.

Wolverine works closely with grid operators to keep the grid working smoothly. Wolverine also informs us of important grid issues or actions we need to take as required by grid operators.

Weather Alert

Wolverine informs us that the grid operators PJM or MISO are keeping an eye on extreme weather conditions. Extreme weather is a primary driver of rolling blackouts as has been experienced by other states.

Conservative Operations

The grid operator tells our power supplier, and power generators throughout the region, to cancel things like planned maintenance work to ensure as much electricity as possible is available.

Load Management

Wolverine and MEC implement load management when necessary, or asked by a grid operator, to reduce the demand on the grid.

Public Appeals

The grid operator requires MEC to contact you and ask you to reduce your non-essential power usage. This is a last-ditch effort to avoid a rolling blackout, and we will only contact you if necessary. In an extreme emergency, there may not be time to make this appeal. That is determined by the grid operator.

Rolling Blackouts

If asking for reduced electric usage doesn't work, the grid operator will call for rolling blackouts until the electric grid is no longer strained.

Rolling blackouts won't impact all MEC customers at once, and some might not experience blackouts at all. If we have time, we will notify you in advance. However, as is the case with public appeals, the grid operator may instruct rolling blackouts to begin immediately.

We’ve Been Lucky So Far

On Christmas Eve of 2022, Winter Storm Elliott caused severe strain on the eastern electric grid and several states experienced blackouts and outages. This hasn’t occurred here yet, but it could, and we need to prepare.