Alberta electric operator puts province on ’emergency reserves’
Posted Sep 27, 2022 8:29 pm.
Last Updated Sep 28, 2022 5:35 pm.
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) asked Albertans to ease their use of electricity early Tuesday night as the province went on “emergency reserves.”
AESO, the province’s electrical power grid operator, implemented a level three emergency energy alert.
The alert went into place at 6:15 p.m., and AESO says the province was using emergency reserves to “maintain system reliability.”
The Grid Alert ended at 8:45 p.m. with AESO saying system conditions had returned to normal.
The AESO issued a Grid Alert at 6:14 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Emergency reserves are now being used to maintain system reliability. Find information on Grid Alerts here: https://t.co/OX5JR5Visg
— AESO (@theAESO) September 28, 2022
The Grid Alert ended at 8:45 p.m. and system conditions have returned to normal. Thank you to our hard-working System Controllers! pic.twitter.com/JGye4JEmnq
— AESO (@theAESO) September 28, 2022
On its website, AESO says grid alerts pop up for various reasons, including cold or hot weather, time of day and wind conditions, “unplanned generation facility outages,” and “other factors” that go beyond the transmission of power and the generation facility owners’ control. This can include lightning and downed power lines.
Consumers are being asked to reduce their electricity use during grid alerts to help mitigate the possibility of undertaking more serious emergency measures to balance the system.
With a grid alert, the provincial operator says it can use emergency reserves, reduce or suspend exports or energy sales, cancel transmission maintenance, and implement “voluntary curtailment programs,” which is where AESO asks people to reduce their energy use to predetermined levels.
AESO says it can also “initiate temporary rotating power outages.”
The provincial power operator hasn’t said what has caused the need for a sudden grid alert.
