At Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), providing reliable power year-round is our top priority. Whether it’s upgrading our equipment or being prepared for potential weather, we take proactive steps to keep the power on for our customers. But living in Indiana and Michigan, we face frigid winters and extreme summer weather, which can potentially cause outages and strain on the power grid.
Multiple things can cause strain on the grid, including extreme weather, sharp increases in energy demand and significant widespread storm damage. Temperatures can also play a critical role. For example, during extreme heat, you may turn up the air conditioning while continuing to use electronics or appliances as normal. This increases your amount of energy used.
As widespread energy demand increases due to high temperatures, the total energy available to serve customers can reach peak levels. Monitoring those levels and the grid’s stability is the 24/7 job of Regional Transmission Organization, PJM. With a close eye on the flow of energy, PJM keeps in regular contact with utility companies, like I&M, so they can continue providing their customers with reliable service.
See also: Who is PJM and How Does I&M Work With Them
During extreme situations, however, PJM may ask power companies to request customers conserve, or reduce, energy to protect the electrical grid. These efforts are temporary and can be important in the long run. Customers can take simple, beneficial actions like adjusting the thermostat setting, delaying laundry and preparing meals with smaller appliances to use less energy.
There are times when those simple actions are not enough, especially as demand begins to exceed the available electricity supply. While it remains our goal to provide customers with the best service possible, we must also do our part to protect the electrical grid for all.
Although I&M may be generating adequate power to serve its own customers, we are part of PJM’s larger grid where energy is sent great distances to multiple states. If they detect a developing need to reduce the amount of energy being used, PJM may require I&M and other utilities to use rotating outages, or “load shedding,” to prevent a larger grid failure from happening. This involves temporarily interrupting service to small groups of customers for a short period of time.
PJM may have to make this decision very quickly, potentially offering less than a few minutes warning to the utility. While these events are often rare, I&M is prepared to keep customers safe and informed during this time. Using various methods of alerts and communication, customers can receive information and updates through the event, whether it’s a call to conserve energy or “load-shedding.” Customers are encouraged to sign up for notifications and follow I&M on its social media platforms to receive updates.
With rotating outages, the time without power for any single group of customers is limited. If needed, outages lasting between 15 minutes and one hour will continue to rotate among different geographic areas as long as PJM requires. During this time, you will not see our I&M crews out restoring power. These outages are controlled by internal centralized switching and can restore your home’s power without the need of our crews.
I&M understands outages like these can cause frustration and inconvenience for our customers. Just as when outages occur after a major storm, we appreciate the community’s support and patience as we work to return service as safely and quickly as possible.
Knowing where to find information is important. Whether outage maps or safety tips, use these resources to stay up to date in a potential outage situation: