OMAHA, Nebraska (WOWT) – The idea of conserving energy was not just aimed at homeowners on Monday and Tuesday. Companies that use a lot were asked to be able to do the same.
For example, 6 News changed our transmitter for our tower to generator and none of us are yet out of the woods.
Energy problems increased rapidly. Yesterday we started getting calls from Bellevue owners.
“I heard neighbor after neighbor out of power,” a Bellevue homeowner said.
On Monday, a thousand customers lost energy. Then on Tuesday, the OPPD turned off more electricity to help relieve pressure from a Texas network in North Dakota about to explode during a record cold.
The neighborhoods of Elkhorn in Pepperwood and 90th and Dodge saw the lights go out. The continued blackout intentionally attracted 72,000 customers in different parts of the morning for just over an hour each. The random interruption even reached the home of Tim Burke, the head of Omaha’s public power district.
“There is no preferential treatment,” OPPD spokesman Jodi Baker said.
But, as they learned from 6 News, some neighborhoods lost power and others did not.
Because? The short answer is: it depends.
Those with OPPD and NPPD say they pay attention to critical points where energy is essential, such as schools, prisons, 911 centers, police stations, fire stations, nursing homes and hospitals. If you live near one of these places, you may have stopped.
While many of these examples have generators because they never know when a tornado or squirrel can damage a transformer, decision makers work to lessen the impact.
“We’re sitting back in a tenuous situation,” said Tom Kent, CEO of NPPD.
With the possibility of more blackouts by Tuesday night and Wednesday, those who run power companies understand the difficult position they put on their customers.
“There’s no way to say,‘ Okay, at 8am, we’ll stop it. ’Think of it as a tornado or an ice storm – it’s an emergency, and when that happens, our operators take measures to ensure that the reliability of the system is not degraded to the point of an uncontrolled widespread disruption, ”Kent said.
6 It was reported in the news that if there are more continuous blackouts on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, they will try to target neighborhoods that had not previously lost power, but there may be no way to return to lose power.
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