Alberta Energy System Operator issues grid alert over electricity use

The instrumentality of wintertime weather, combined with an unexpected simplification successful energy generation, prompted a astonishment grid alert by the Alberta Energy System Operator Tuesday morning.

Notice of the alert was posted connected the AESO website astatine 7:15 a.m. and ended astatine 8:22 a.m.

AESO spokesperson Diane Kossman said the alert was aimed astatine concern users of energy who were “asked to voluntarily negociate their energy use.”

“There was nary request to contented a nationalist alert (asking the nationalist to bounds energy use),” Kossman said, due to the fact that “there was inactive a comfy proviso cushion and we knew we’d beryllium coming backmost retired of the grid alert beauteous quickly.”

However, immoderate of AESO’s concern users reposted announcement of the alert connected social media.

Asked wherefore the grid alert was needed, Kossman said the temperatures Tuesday greeting were “the coldest we’ve had and determination were 3 ample generators that were offline.”

Kossman wouldn’t accidental wherefore the generators were offline but says it was expected.

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She says the accumulation of upwind vigor was besides “lower than it was expected to be.”

On its website, AESO says a grid alert is issued “when the powerfulness strategy is nether accent and we’re preparing to usage exigency reserves to conscionable request and support strategy reliability. Consumers are asked to trim their energy usage during Grid Alerts to assistance mitigate the anticipation of undertaking much superior exigency measures to equilibrium the system, including rotating powerfulness outages.”