SPP says it has not identified any concerns within its 14-state footprint this winter that it is not capable of resolving.
Bruce Rew, senior vice president of operations, told stakeholders Nov. 13 the RTO also does not expect any fuel-supply or resource issues across its fleet.
“We are, however, continually performing studies to assess system changes and to develop ways to mitigate problems should any study indicate the potential for those to occur,” Rew said during SPP’s annual winter preparedness workshop. “Extreme weather can and has stressed our system from a capacity perspective, but we have procedures in place to ensure the grid remains stable.”
He said SPP will take preemptive actions to prepare for worst-case scenarios should extreme weather occur, as has happened in each of the two previous winters. In February 2021, Winter Storm Uri forced the grid operator to shed load for the first time in its 80-year history. (See ERCOT, MISO, SPP Slough Load in Wintry Blast.)
Rew said this year’s winter assessment forecasts a peak load of 46 GW, just below last December’s record peak of just over 47 GW. The assessment looked at typical load levels with normal expected outages.
SPP staff are forecasting near-normal temperatures in the central and southern portions of its region and above-normal temperatures in the North. They say a strong Arctic outbreak is less likely but that there is an increased chance of winter precipitation in the South, thanks to the El Niño weather pattern’s strong subtropical jet stream.
