On and around December 24, 2022, temperatures plummeted into the teens and even single digits for a few hours. The winter- weather event that spread over a 3-day period turned into one of the coldest on record and left Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative with some unexpected costs to pay for most of last year.
As I’m writing this article, we’re looking at a new round of extreme cold. On January 17 through January 20, forecasts are showing overnight temperatures dipping again into the teens with at least one chance of single digits.
At this point, forecasters are looking into their crystal balls trying their best to predict the future. As you are reading this article, you will have the benefit of knowing what happened.
The difference between this event we are expecting and what happened more than a year ago is the compounding chance of freezing rain and snow. This gives us great concern and pushes our contingency planning into overdrive.
If ice accumulates too much on our lines, poles and other structures, we could have wire on the ground. The weight of the accumulation can break the wire and cross arms. It can cause trees to topple and bring down anything they hit, our lines included.
More than a year ago, we had only the extreme cold to worry about. This go-around we have the cold along with the potential for excessive damage and a great many outages.
To prepare for these possibilities, we are taking measures to ensure our trucks are equipped with chains and that our crews have access to everything they need to get to work if the worst comes to fruition. We have stocked up on the supplies, devices, and equipment we will need to repair the damage and restore service. When temperatures are cold, we know it is imperative we restore power as quickly as possible.
With extremely cold temperatures, electricity usage — especially demand — increases exponentially. This drives up the cost of the electricity we purchase tremendously, and it’s a cost that impacts us for an entire 12 months. Last year, the impact on our wholesale power cost was rather substantial.
I’m telling you all this because I want you to know all we do to prepare. With an event such as the one we are expecting, we look at it from every angle and understand every possible way it can impact our operation.
We do this to not only keep your lights on but your power costs within reason. And when this event is over, our team will reconvene to analyze our response and see what we can improve for the next event.
We hope that as you’re reading this, you are doing so from a warm, comfortable home that wasn’t impacted by an extreme cold weather event.
Thank you, and I hope you have a Happy Valentine’s Day!