Record cold temperatures force rolling power blackouts across Midwestern and Southern U.S. (Audio)
Mike Tanner/KWAT
February 16, 2021
Mike Tanner
WATERTOWN, S.D.–The bitterly cold weather across a large chunk of the country caused a very rare occurence Tuesday.
The Little Rock, Arkansas-based Southwest Power Pool, which manages the electric grid across 17 central and western states, including South Dakota, issued “rolling blackouts” when reserve energy supplies had been exhausted due to overwhelming demand triggered by record cold.
Lanny Nickell is the Chief Operating Officer for the Southwest Power Pool…
Nickell says the blackouts were not due to a lack of cooperation…
Most of the blackouts were less than two hours in length for individual customers.
