SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — About 7,000 Sioux Valley Energy customers, including 5,700 on the east side of Sioux Falls, had their power shut off as part of rolling blackouts brought on by frigid weather.
Sioux Valley energy announced the blackouts at about 7:45 a.m. Tuesday morning. They said advance notice was not possible “because of the conditions of the system.”
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Chris Studer with the East River Electric Cooperative provided this update:
“The Western Area Power Administration which is the Transmission Operator for our region was directed by SPP to take an outage at 7:00 a.m. this morning of about 200 megawatts. They de-energized substations in parts of western Minnesota impacting about 2,000 members of Lyon-Lincoln Electric Cooperative and City of Tyler customers. Around the same time they also de-energized substations serving Southeastern Electric customers in the Viborg, Hurley and Menno areas impacting about 2,200 consumers in that area. Then at 7:30 a.m. they were directed to de-energize another 200 megawatts, so they de-energized substations serving Sioux Valley Energy members on the east side of Sioux Falls – totaling about 5,700 consumers. The Redfield, Cresbard and Mansfield areas were de-energized just before 8:00 a.m. affecting FEM Electric and Northern Electric consumers. The Viborg, Hurley and Menno areas were back on before 8:00 a.m. so we’re expecting 30-45 minute outages that will be on a rolling basis this morning.”
The record-breaking cold snap has strained electric providers throughout the Midwest. They’re encouraging people to conserve energy until things warm up.
(Jerry Oster, WNAX, contributed to this report.)
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