For a few hours Friday morning, some home and business owners were subject to a brief power blackout.

Generally, blackouts are caused by damage to power lines that interrupt service. In this case, they were by design as the Tennessee Valley Authority and its utilities sought to maintain electricity capacity by reducing usage by 5 percent across TVA’s seven-state service region.

TVA lifted the blackout plan at about noon Friday, but it is possible TVA will implement it again as sub-freezing temperatures continue through the weekend.

The blackouts affected customers of Columbus Light and Water, Starkville Utilities Department, 4-County Electric and Monroe Electric in the Golden Triangle.

“We started blackouts probably within 15 minutes of the TVA order, a little after 9 this morning,” said Jon Turner, spokesman for 4-County. “It’s part of a plan TVA developed for power curtailment when the demand for electricity reaches a critical point.” 

Turner said it is believed to be the first time TVA has implemented blackouts in 50 years.

Edward Kemp, general manager for Starkville Utilities, said the blackouts were the final, most serious stage of TVA’s plan to curtail usage.

“There are five levels, with Level 50 being the highest,” Kemp said. “That’s the point where utilities are required to reduce the load through short blackouts. For us, they are 15-minute blackouts. Columbus and 4-County have 30-minute blackouts. The idea is to continue those blackouts until we reach that 5 percent reduction. But, depending on the supply, those reductions could go even higher. Five percent is the minimum.”

Angela Verdell, general manager for CLW, said the utility also began blackouts immediately, based on its predetermined plan. 

“We got a call informing us that we were back down to Level 40, which means we could stop the blackouts,” she said. “Right now, everything is back to normal, but that could change. TVA will be monitoring supply hourly, so there’s a chance we might get back to Level 50. We just don’t know.”

Mark Rushing, CLW’s manager for the electric division, said the blackouts affected customers in all parts of the city.

“It’s not random,” he said. “The blackout list is predetermined as part of our plan.”

With the prospects that the blackouts could resume, utility companies are urging affected customers to be patient.

“We started getting overwhelmed with calls as soon as we started the blackouts,” Turner said. “What we want people to know is that if you do have an outage, wait at least 45 minutes before you call.”

Kemp said the curtailment order came “out of nowhere” for SUD.
“That’s one of the things we’ve talked with TVA about, to help us get the word out better and faster, so people will know what’s going on,” Kemp said. “What we are telling our customers is to stay tuned to our social media. That’s the fastest way to get that information.”

Utility officials are urging customers to conserve energy as much as possible.
“We know with it being Christmas, that’s hard to do sometimes,” Verdell said. “But every little thing helps, whether it’s turning down the thermostat or not using appliances if you don’t have to. Hopefully, that we help so we won’t get the Level 50 and have to resume blackouts.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

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