PSC Commissioner Foster Campbell wants to know why there was a 6six-hour unplanned power outage on Saturday, with over 30-thousand SWEPCO customers in Bossier and Caddo Parishes. SWEPCO Spokesperson Michael Corbin says that due to a directive from the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the regional transmission organization. SPP identified grid instability and required SWEPCO to implement emergency outages to prevent widespread damage to power lines and equipment.
“It had to be done in order to protect both our assets and protect consumers’ assets because we could not have unreliable or unregulated power voltage power coming out of their homes or businesses.”
SWEPCO began restoring power around 9 p.m. that evening, with approximately 8,700 customers still without electricity. By the end of the night, all outages were resolved. As of Sunday, SWEPCO confirmed that grid conditions had stabilized and the situation had improved. Corbin says whatever caused this wasn’t a SWEPCO issue and a much large r issue possibly in another state.
“SWEPCO’s grid operates very well. We are constantly making updates to it.”
SWEPCO expressed regret for the inconvenience caused by the sudden outages, noting that the emergency nature did not allow for advance notice to customers. Corbin says there was no advanced warning from SPP, and SWEPCO was ordered to shut down immediately.
“Information was coming in slowly to us, and I think we’re going to have a better idea of what happened, what led to this and what we can do to mitigate it in the future.”
Campbell is having a press conference with SPP and SWEPCO tomorrow and says he doesn’t want to point fingers, and wants to know why it happened.
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