SWEPCO, PSC commissioner discuss how to reduce number of power outages - KSLA
SWEPCO, PSC commissioner discuss how to reduce number of power outages
“I have some serious questions to ask SWEPCO about keeping the electricity on”
SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — We’re Getting Answers for you about the recent power outages that have plagued the area.
More than 47,000 Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) customers lost electrical service during the storms Sunday (July 16). The utility told KSLA News 12 that 95% of its customers should have power restored by Tuesday (July 18) at 10 p.m. at the latest.
[RELATED: Storms down trees, utility lines; power outages reported]
KSLA News 12′s Donna Keeya spoke with both an SWEPCO representative and the region’s public service commissioner Monday (July 17) about what it will take to keep the lights on.
“You know, Mother Nature just keeps bringing high winds. That is causing trees to come down and power lines to come down,” SWEPCO spokesperson Michelle Marcotte said.
The utility says it is responding to these frequent outages by creating a plan to make its power grid more storm-proof.
“We have a plan that’s called storm hardening, which is basically making the grid more resilient to sustain high winds, ice on the lines when it freezes,” Marcotte said. “So in a lot of places, you’ll see we’re installing bigger wire, which allows for greater load capacity. And it also helps when there is ice accumulation.”
SWEPCO isn’t the only one reacting to the power outages.
Foster Campbell, Northwest Louisiana’s public service commissioner, said that it seems we’re having more power outages than expected and that he might look into the outages as well.
“I mean, I regulate SWEPCO. If I find something wrong, I can make them fix it. Just to talk to them, let them show me what went wrong. If I’m not satisfied, we’ll open an investigation and see exactly what happened,” Campbell said.
“My office, we regulate them, we can make them get it right. That’s what the Public Service Commission is about.”
Campbell said there is a need to evaluate how SWEPCO compares to similar companies in the area.
“Well, I have some serious questions to ask SWEPCO about keeping the electricity on. It seems we’re having more outages than we need. We don’t need any, but I mean more outages than expected,” he said.
“All I can do is investigate that,” Campbell continued. “We have the staff to do it. We will check it and see how it compares to other companies in our state and our region.”
Copyright 2023 KSLA. All rights reserved.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: electricity
Electricity is a secondary energy source: it is generated through the conversion of primary energy sources such as natural gas, coal, solar, hydropower, and wind. Electricity’s versatility is not cost-free: a substantial amount of energy is lost in its generation and the cost of storage is high, compared with fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. The economics of battery technology hold the key to expanded use of renewable sources to generate electricity.