The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is a regional transmission organization (RTO): a nonprofit corporation mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure, and competitive wholesale electricity prices on behalf of its members. Rita Blanca Electric Cooperative (RBEC) is a member and a Load Service Entity (LSE) of the SPP.
During times of high electrical usage, energy emergencies or major events, SPP may request that we alert our Members and ask for energy conservation.
Energy Conservation Measures include:
- Turn down thermostats to 68-degrees in winter.
- Close shades and blinds to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows.
- Turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances.
- Avoid using large appliances (i.e. ovens, washing machines, etc.).
- Businesses should minimize the use of the electric lighting and electricity-consuming equipment as much as possible.
- Large consumers of electricity should consider shutting down or reducing non-essential production processes.
During customer load shed events:
- All customers should assume their power could go out without advanced warning. Efforts will be made as much as possible to provide advanced notification of pending outages, but circumstances do not always allow that to happen.
- Customers designated as Critical Load, in guidance with PUC §25.497, are not guaranteed an uninterrupted supply of electricity. It is the responsibility of the retail customer to make necessary arrangements for alternative sources of electric power should a localized outage or load shed event occur.
- Critical Loads are loads for which electric service is considered crucial for the protection or maintenance of public safety; including but not limited to hospitals, hospice, assisted living and/or nursing facilities, police stations, fire stations, critical water and wastewater facilities and customers with special in-house life-sustaining equipment. Operators of these facilities shall contact RBEC with the follow information to require designation as a Critical Load:
- Nature of the facility and what type of vital community service is provided.
- The amount of backup power available.
- A Critical Natural Gas Facility is designated as a critical customer by the Railroad Commission of Texas under §3.65(b) (relating to Critical Designation of Natural Gas Infrastructure) unless the facility has obtained and exception from its critical status. Designation as a critical load or a critical natural gas facility does not guarantee the uninterrupted supply of electricity. Pursuant to RRC (Railroad Commission) recommendation, the following facilities given highest priority for maintaining electric service and restoring electric service following outage:
- Pipelines that directly provide natural gas to electric generation or to local (gas) distribution company facilities.
- Underground natural gas transportation and storage facilities.
- Natural gas liquids transportation and storage facilities.
- Gas processing plants with a capacity of 200 MMcf/day and greater.
- Natural gas wells and oil leases producing natural gas in the amount of 5,000MMcf/day or greater; and,
- Saltwater disposal wells, compressor stations, and control centers supporting the listed facilities.
- Operators of these facilities shall follow the procedures below for designation as a RBEC Critical Natural Gas Facility by March 1 and September 1 of each year:
- File Form CI-D with RRC acknowledging and certifying critical status.
- Submit to RBEC Form CI-D and Excel attachment to Form CI-D covering items such as contact specific location (including latitude/longitude), type of facility, gas production rate, and backup generation capabilities (how long, type, capacity, hours to restart after outage). One operator will list all its critical facilitates on a single form.
- Once RBEC receives the critical customer information, it has 10 business days to evaluate the information for completeness and provide a written notice to the operator regarding the status of the critical natural gas designation.
- Critical Loads are loads for which electric service is considered crucial for the protection or maintenance of public safety; including but not limited to hospitals, hospice, assisted living and/or nursing facilities, police stations, fire stations, critical water and wastewater facilities and customers with special in-house life-sustaining equipment. Operators of these facilities shall contact RBEC with the follow information to require designation as a Critical Load:
- Residential customers dependent on electric-powered medical equipment, such as those designated as Medical Necessity, in guidance with §PUC 25.487, are encouraged to have a solid back-up plan in the event they lose electricity. It is important to note that these customers are not excluded from controlled outages and may lose power during a load shed event. Anyone who depends on electricity for life-sustaining equipment should have a back-up plan in place.
- To inquire about a Medical Necessity, please call our office at (806) 249-4506.
- Electric utilities will prioritize continuity of service for certain customers who service is critical to the community during an emergency or those who service provides a major support to the integrity of the electric system during an emergency. Examples include hospitals, major airports, and 911.
- Because a load shed event is an emergency order based on a shortfall of electricity being generated, electric utilities, including RBEC, will not have the information needed to be able to notify individual customers that they may lose power, when they may lose power or how long the load shed event may last.
- In extreme power emergencies, events may require electric utilities to shed large amounts of load over long periods of time. In these instances, electric utilities like RBEC may not have the ability to rotate outages. When this happens, some Members may be without power for an extended period of time. These outages are critical for ensuring the integrity of the electric grid and preventing a system-wide blackout, which could be long-lasting and have a significant impact on all aspects of life.
- Electric utilities are required to continue to comply with mandated controlled customer outage instructions until authorities determine that outages are no longer required.
- The Public Utility Commission of Texas website provides examples for customers to reduce electricity use at times when involuntary load shedding events may be implemented.
Regardless of the nature of the load shedding event, Rita Blanca Electric is committed to ensuring the safe and reliable delivery of electricity to our Members 24-hours-per-day, 7-days-per-week. While the cooperative may not control the issues or conditions that have required an order to shed load, we will do everything in our power to restore electricity when we are able to safely do so. In addition, we will work to keep our Members informed about the situation through social media and direct communications to you.