An artic front entered the Tennessee Valley on Sunday, January 19, bringing in the coldest air of the season. Temperatures across the entire Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) region are in the teens and single digits, pushing power demand up. TVA expects power demand to remain high through Wednesday with an expected demand peaking at over 34,600 MW, which may represent an all-time peak for the TVA system. TVA remains well positioned to meet the expected demand and thousands of public power workers at TVA, Bristol Tennessee Essential Services (BTES), and other local power companies are working hard to keep it that way.
TVA and the 153 local power companies have taken energy savings measures to help conserve electricity through this extreme weather event and we ask the public to join us in taking some simple steps to reduce power use.
- Lowering your thermostat by one or two degrees is helpful. Each degree you lower your thermostat can save you as much as three percent on your monthly energy bill.
- Reduce your energy usage during the coldest part of the day by turning off non-essential appliances and lights.
- Delay using washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, and high-energy-use appliances.
“BTES has reduced power usage at our facilities by adjusting thermostats, reducing lighting, and taking other measures to reduce electricity consumption,” said Clayton Dowell, CEO of BTES.
Status reports on the power situation will be provided on TVA’s and BTES’ Facebook pages, as necessary. 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.
