Entergy customers may be facing mandatory forced outages Wednesday night if electric demand continues.
In a statement, the utility company requested residential, commercial and industrial customers to decrease electric usage from 5 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16. According to Entergy, Midcontinent Independent System Operator has warned of “critical power shortages” without conservation efforts.
If the demand does not decrease, Entergy is expecting controlled outages, which are designed to limit the possibility of widespread outages and bulk electric system damages. Outages are not expected to last more than 60 minutes per customer, according to an Entergy release.
Entergy cites lowering thermostat on heating units and limiting the use of large appliances as ways of reducing the likelihood of forced outages.
