LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Sunrays have certainly been heating things up since before the summer season officially began, and millions of people have had to adjust the A/C to make sure their homes feel comfortable.
Of course, doing such a thing has definitely increased the demand for electricity.
When the heat starts to really bear down, rolling blackouts can grow into a big concern.
Power outages that occur for even a brief amount of time can be inconvenient, but sometimes they could be the result of a deliberate blackout.
Rob Roedel with Electric Cooperative of Arkansas said that there shouldn't be too much of a concern of that possibly happening anytime soon.
"We have been assured that within the state of Arkansas, we have adequate capacity to get through this summer," said Roedel.
A blackout is what can happen when electricity is interrupted for a certain amount of time.
"Normally, that would occur if there's more demand for power than exists," Roedel said.
He adds that they haven't happened very often. In fact, the only time the utility company has done rolling blackouts was during 2021.
"It was during Winter Storm Uri and that was for less than 30 minutes for less than 24,000 customers in the state of Arkansas," Roedel said.
He emphasized that rolling blackouts are last resort options and in the event that the demand for electricity is higher than the capacity, there's a plan already set in place.
Roedel said larger companies are what are considered as "interruptible loads."
Which means electric companies, like AECC, are given the ability to shut off power to those buildings before shutting off your power at home.
But, the decision to reduce power is not up to them, but rather to electric organizations like Midcontinent Independent System Operator and Southwestern Power Pool who determine when the load reduction needs to occur.
Roedel said that the possibility of a power grid failure happening in Arkansas this summer is not much of a concern for them. And that there are multiple steps before you, the consumer, will be affected.