SPP is issuing a Conservative Operations Advisory for the entire SPP Balancing Authority (BA) area, effective Saturday, January 24, at 12:00 a.m. CT until an anticipated end time of Monday, January 26, at 12:00 p.m. CT. Conservative Operations Advisories are considered stable operating conditions and do not require the public to conserve energy or take any action. They are issued by SPP, acting as the region's BA, to raise awareness among its member utilities, load-responsible entities, and transmission and generation owners and operators of the need to mitigate potential reliability risks by operating more conservatively than under normal conditions.
• The advisory is being declared due to moderate to high risk associated with capacity sufficiency and increased operational risk, particularly in the southern regions of the BA. This means that power demand is expected to be high because of extremely cold temperatures, which may place added stress on the system, especially in southern areas of the BA. • Individuals should contact their local utility for details specific to their area. • No action is required or advised for the general public, although during this time SPP and its utility operators may take steps such procuring additional fuel, ramping up offline generators or postponing planned maintenance until conditions improve. • Generation and transmission operators have been provided instructions on applicable procedures, including reporting any limitations, fuel shortages or concerns. • To mitigate risks to reliability associated with these factors, SPP may use greater unit commitment notification timeframes, including making commitments before standard day-ahead market procedures and/or committing resources in reliability status. • SPP will send additional information if necessary.