Bristol, Tenn. – Temperatures are quickly dropping across the entire Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) region, pushing power demand up. TVA expects power demand to remain high through mid-day Wednesday. The power system remains stable and thousands of public power workers at TVA, Bristol Tennessee Essential Services (BTES), and other local power companies are working hard in challenging conditions to keep it that way.
TVA and the 153 local power companies have lowered their thermostats and taken other energy savings measures to help conserve electricity and we ask for the public to join us in taking some simple steps to reduce power use.
- Lowering your thermostat by one or two degrees is helpful. Lowering by three to four degrees is even better.
- Delay using washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, and high-energy-use appliances.
- Keep window coverings closed on the non-sunny side of homes but open them if bright sunlight is available to provide additional heat.
“BTES has joined TVA and the other local power companies in reducing power usage at our facilities by adjusting thermostats, reducing lighting, and taking other measures to reduce electricity consumption,” said Clayton Dowell, CEO of BTES. “The voluntary reduction is needed to help TVA reduce the risk of implementing rolling power interruptions during this extreme weather event.
Status reports on the power situation will be provided on TVA’s and BTES’ Facebook pages. TVA and BTES are working around the clock to make power available to customers.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self-financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 153 local power distributors that serve approximately 9 million consumers in seven southeastern states.
BTES is a municipally owned electric utility that also provides high-speed Internet, telephone, and cable television services over a fiber optic network. BTES has more than 34,000 electric customers in a 280-square-mile service area in the City of Bristol and Sullivan County, Tennessee.
