Blog Archive

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Friday, January 24, Another Peak Electric Demand Day

Our plans are evolving along with the weather forecast and TVA's system status. We are calling Friday a Blue Level Load Management day here in Glasgow. Just like TVA, but on a n a much smaller scale, we operate Glasgow's System Control center right here in the EPB building, and our folks now predict that we may set a new maximum peak for January on Friday morning, January 24, somewhere between 6:00 and 11:00 am.

We are making our customary appeal. We need for you to pre-warm your home during the night and lower your thermostat a few degrees when you get up Friday morning. We need for you to avoid the use of electric ranges, dishwashers, and clothes dryers through the morning. If you could de-energize your electric water heater through the morning, that would help a lot as well. After the morning passes, you may resume all normal activities and thermostat settings.

This appeal is to help both TVA and Glasgow EPB maintain the stability and economic efficiency of our electric power grid. Thanks for the great response that you always give us during these times!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014

TVA ELECTRIC SYSTEM CRITICAL

VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

While we have been appealing to our customers for reductions to electric power usage during the morning hours for the last couple of days, this morning that appeal has become critical. TVA, the electric power provider for Glasgow, this morning instituted their Emergency Load Curtailment Plan due to extreme conditions regarding their generating capacity.

For the stabil
ity of the electric power grid across the multi-state region, it is essential that all Glasgow EPB customers redouble their efforts to reduce demand through 11:00 am today, January 7. Lower thermostats, switch off electric water heaters, refrain from using major appliances.

This crisis should end with the warmer air coming later in the day. Until then, please heed this warning!

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Glasgow Energy Peak Alert - Your Help is Needed!



With the coldest temperatures predicted in 20 years for Monday and Tuesday, January 6th and 7th, TVA has already notified our office that they will be operating in their Conservative Operations mode.  Everything is secure on their system, but they are making plans to ensure that it remains that way, and the Glasgow EPB is also working to protect our system.  However, we can only do so much. We need the help of all of our customers, both at your homes and your businesses, during this exceptionally cold period. 

Please be assured, we would never ask you to endanger your health or the well-being of your property. What we are asking is that you curtail as much electric usage as possible on Monday morning, and particularly on Tuesday morning, when we expect to possibly set a record peak demand for electric power. We need your help between 6:00 am and 11:00 am on both Monday and Tuesday.  Below are just a few suggestions, but we know that each homeowner and business owner can find other creative ways to cut even more usage:

1.     Pre-warm your home or business on Sunday night, and again Monday night.
2.     At about 6:00 am, set your thermostat to 69, or lower if possible.
3.     Do not use electric space heaters during the critical hours.
4.     Limit your use of electric appliances such as ranges, washers, dryers and dishwashers.  If it is necessary to use these items, please do so after 11:00 am.
5.     Use hot water sparingly if you have an electric hot water heater.
6.     Close off areas not being used.
7.     For our business customers, please delay any electric intensive operations until after 11:00 am on Monday and Tuesday; turn off lights and lower thermostats in unused areas.

These are just a few suggestions; let us hear from you how you are finding ways to save electric usage on our Facebook page (Glasgow Electric Plant Board). Remember, you can always monitor real time usage of the entire city at http://portal.glasgow-ky.com/glasgow/ or by going to www.glasgow-ky.com and looking for the graph on the right hand side. 

We have asked in the past for your help, and our customers have always responded.  We are sincerely requesting your assistance again to ensure that our system remains at its optimum operational capacity and that rates remain low for the entire community.  

Monday, December 23, 2013

A Christmas Wish from Glasgow EPB

Our office will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, in the hope that our team will get some well deserved time with their families. It is our sincere hope that you get to do that as well.

If you have an emergency or suffer an interruption to one of the essential services you buy from us, please give us a call at 651-8341 and we will respond, no matter the date.

We have done a lot of that over the last 48 hours. Many of our folks worked continuously from Saturday evening through late Sunday night, repairing damage done to our networks by ferocious winds and some lightning. While all of the repairs are not complete, we have been able to accomplish many repairs and have implemented temporary fixes to other damage -- things that we hope can wait for permanent repair until after Christmas.

We give thanks during this season for another year in which we have been able to be your "Cavalry" and come to the rescue of many folks who needed help to return their lives to normal. We are thankful to have the opportunity to be of service, and we are thankful that our team has been able to do this work without being seriously injured. It is that for which we are the most thankful.

We do not say that lightly, because it is practically a miracle that we can say that. Conditions like what we had Saturday and Sunday often put our folks in back yards where they encounter a confusing array of downed trees, mud, energized conductors wrapped around an array of communications cables and other devices that present many dangers. This is normally done in total darkness during a driving wind and rain storm. Successfully returning your homes and businesses to the comfort and convenience that we need to make our lives happy, is fraught with many complications and dangers, and we count our blessings that we have a team capable of handling these challenges.

Thank you for choosing Glasgow EPB to perform these tasks for you. We hope that our work brings you the foundation of a wonderfully happy holiday season and that you build pleasant memories that will endure upon that foundation. Merry Christmas to you from all of us at Glasgow EPB!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Preparing For Record Setting Lows

The cold weather simply isn't letting up and once again the EPB needs your help. It appears that Thursday morning is likely to set a new peak energy demand for December with temperatures predicted to fall to new lows. That is why we are declaring Thursday morning a Blue Level load alert for Glasgow between 7:00 am and 10:00 am, and are again asking for your help at both residences and businesses.

As we've mentioned before, if you are an EPB power customer you can help the community lower its energy bill from TVA. We have found that raising your thermostat a bit higher than normal before you go to bed allows you to store some heat before the coldest temperatures arrive at day break. Then, when you get up, lower your thermostat a few degrees (68 is a good temperature) and leave it that way until 10:00 a.m. or after. The pre-heating should help hold your temperature until the end of the peak.

It is the large appliances in a home that contribute the most to our peak demand in the winter. Please delay turning on the clothes dryer, dishwasher, or your electric oven between 7:00 am – 10:00 am on Thursday and limit your use of hot water if you have an electric water heater. If you are really feeling like helping, trip off your electric water heater when you get up. You will still have hot water for your morning routines, but the water heater will not immediately recover and drive up our demand (just don’t forget to turn it back on later in the day so it can recover).

Businesses can help by lowering their thermostat temperature a couple of degrees during that time frame and postponing any electric intensive projects until after 10:00 am or completing before 7:00 am.

We are busy working on research projects that will allow these processes to be automated so we do not have to ask you repeatedly for your help in minimizing our peak demands. While we have some very interesting projects, right now our only hope is for you to help us – and the entire community. Thank you again for your assistance!



Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Time To Manage November's Peak



We haven’t had this discussion in a while, but Wednesday morning is likely to set Glasgow’s peak energy demand for November, and we need your help to keep it down.That is why we are declaring Wednesday morning a Blue level load alert for Glasgow.

The winter peaks are quite different from the summer peaks we talked about over the last several months. In the winter, Glasgow’s energy demand usually peaks between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. We think that will happen on Wednesday, November 27.

If you are an EPB power customer you can help the community lower its energy bill from TVA. You can help by raising your thermostat a bit higher than normal before you go to bed. That will allow you to pre-heat your home and store some heat before the coldest temperatures arrive at day break. Then, when you get up, lower your thermostat a few degrees (68 is a good temperature) and leave it that way until 10:00 a.m. or after. That will help us get through the likely peak period on Wednesday.

There are other ways to help as well. It is the large appliances in a home that contribute the most to our peak demand. Avoid turning on the clothes dryer, dishwasher, or the oven before you leave on Wednesday. If you are really feeling like helping, trip off your electric water heater when you get up. You will still have hot water for your morning routines, but the water heater will not immediately recover and drive up our demand (don’t forget to turn it back on later in the day so it can recover).

We are busy working on research projects that will allow these processes to be automated such that we do not have to ask you repeatedly for your help in minimizing our peak demands. We have some very encouraging ideas and results, but, for now, our only hope is for you to pitch in and make these moves on your own. We hope you will help us out!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Internet Upgrade That Wasn't

The internet upgrade was not accomplished last night due to a major error by the hardware company. Since we plan these upgrades during the late night to cause as little disruption to our customers as possible, we could not get resolution from this mega-corporation during that time frame. We are in contact this morning with the management and our sales representative of this company who created the problem, voicing our extreme displeasure and demand for resolution to this issue. We will keep you advised as to when we will perform the upgrade, but in the meantime if you are experiencing any internet problems please give us a call at 651-8341 so we may address them.