A one-half megawatt solar panel will be installed next to the Oglesby ambulance service building. Mayor Dominic Rivara says the city’s residents and businesses use up to 12 megawatts on very hot days. But he says the city will be closer to not having to turn off power for some places when transmission lines can’t bring in enough.
To protect the transmission lines, electric suppliers require customers to “shed” loads. Some businesses that use a lot of electricity can be turned off. If electricity demand stays high, more businesses and even residential neighborhoods can be turned off. It’s somewhat like turning off some appliances in a home to avoid tripping a circuit breaker.
Rivara continues emphasizing that there never was such a risk for the city before the state required dirtier electricity production facilities to close. The routes from those generators to Oglesby could handle it.
Rivara says he’s not against green energy. He says the state’s just not ready to get rid of all the dirty energy.