If the electric transmission lines that lead into Oglesby can’t handle everything the city’s customers want, something has to give. City Commissioner Jason Curran is developing a plan to turn off some customers on high demand days, starting with industries that use the most. That’ll ease the load and keep transmission lines from burning up.
But if things get very bad, most of the city could have a blackout. He says that would be an unusual and extreme event. And he’s suggesting the city be ready to open a cooling center in that event. High demand electricity use days are usually in the summer on the hottest days, but they can happen in winter. The city already has a warming center plan.
Curran’s plan for which circuits to turn off takes several things into account. If there’s enough advance notice, a few of the biggest industrial users would be affected. The businesses will have time to plan and city workers will have time to flip the switches. But if notice is very short–perhaps 15 minutes–an entire section of the city could be turned off.
Mayor Dominic Rivara says this problem is not because of the city’s equipment and power lines. He says the transmission system across the state is at risk of overload, so the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency is telling its customers to prepare to reduce demand. Rivara blames the shutdown of some power producers in Illinois. He says importing the electricity from other states shifts it to transmission lines that can’t handle all that’s wanted.