TVA expecting highest electricity demand Wednesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is anticipating the highest demand for electricity in TVA history on Wednesday morning.

Peak hours are expected to be from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17. During that time, residents are asked to conserve electricity.

“Hold off using large appliances such as ovens, dishwashers, and dryers. If you can, turn your thermostat down a degree or two,” said TVA CEO Jeff Lyash. “Thank you for taking these actions to help reduce stress on the power grid. As always, our focus is to keep you warm and safe. And the electric grid operating at its best during this winter weather.”

The TVA works with 153 local power companies throughout the region, and the urgent plea reaches all of them.

In Clarksville, CDE Lightband said they anticipate their demand to mirror TVA’s.

“We do know our system can handle 500 megawatts, we’ve been at 462 megawatts up to this point I’m comfortable with with where our system is, and it can handle the load, but we do encourage our customers to lower their thermostats maybe about three degrees north from what they normally have it set, and turn off any power, any lights that they don’t need,” said Brian Taylor, a spokesperson for CDE Lightband.

According to Taylor, CDE Lightband has been able to keep power on through this year’s winter weather so far.

Preparations began last Monday as crews checked each of their circuits and increased shift times so crews could be available around the clock in various locations.

Taylor said power company’s goal is to keep small outages to less than an hour. Their crews will be on 12-hour shifts until Saturday, Jan. 20.