KEC gives preliminary list of possible controlled outage areas

Feb. 16—Although controlled outages were suspended Tuesday, Kiamichi Electric Cooperative gave preliminary areas where an outage could occur if the Southwest Power Pool declares another Level Three emergency.

"We will not have any advanced notice," KEC said in a social media post Tuesday afternoon. "However, we have worked with our power provider and have several areas we think that would be affected first should a level 3 be declared. These could change but we wanted to let those members know who might be affected."

KEC said the company wanted to get the information out as quickly as possible.

"Hopefully this will not be needed but we wanted you to have it just in case," the company said. "The best way to prevent this is for all of us to conserve where we can. Thanks for all your doing and for your patience."

The following areas in Pittsburg County were named by KEC.

North Sam's Point, Arrowhead Estates, Holiday Hills, Morrison Acre, Castaway Cove, South Tannehill, West Mitchell Road, Pyle Mountain Road, East Bald Mountain Road, Rock Creek Road, Coal creek Road, Oak Ridge Acres, West Scipio, Four Corners, Cabiness Road, Ulan, South Staples Road, and Wesley.

In Leflore County.

Morris Creek Road, Sulphur Springs, and Monroe east along Hwy 83

Controlled outages occurred Tuesday morning for more than 1,700 customers.

The second day of controlled outages began after SPP declared a Level Three Energy Emergency Alert for their entire 14-state area Tuesday morning.

SPP downgraded the energy emergency alert to level one Tuesday afternoon.

"This is declared when all available resources have been committed to meet obligations, and SPP is at risk of not meeting required operating reserves," the organization said. "SPP's forecasts anticipate that due to high load and persistent cold weather, it is likely its system will fluctuate between EEA levels over the next 48 hours.

Along with adjusting thermostats, area power companies are giving the following conservation tips.

Close shades and blinds to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows.

Turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances.

Avoid using large appliances (i.e., ovens, washing machines, etc.).

Businesses should minimize the use of electric lighting and electricity-consuming equipment as much as possible.

Large consumers of electricity should consider shutting down or reducing non-essential production processes.

Area natural gas companies are also asking customers to conserve energy by lowering the thermostat to at least 68 degrees and by the temperature setting on hot water heaters.