Critical Emergency Alert in Alberta due to Cold Weather
Canada is known for its low temperatures during winter months. Minus degrees are nothing extraordinary for any of Canadian province and territories especially not to Alberta. Even though Canada being winter country, cold weather surprised Albertas Hydro. In order to minimize potential disruptions throughout the province, an urgent emergency notice was issued on Saturday night advising residents of Alberta to cut back on their electrical consumption.
While most Albertans would prefer not to break the record, 38 areas did so on Saturday thanks to some of the lowest weather in fifty years. Among them was Edmonton, which recorded a new record low of -45.9C at the Edmonton International Airport. That surpasses the previous best, set in 1969 at 39.4C. According to statistics released by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) on Saturday, 37 other areas around the province shattered records for low temperatures, with Hendrickson Creek taking the top spot as Alberta’s coldest place with a temperature of -46.1C.
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The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) stated in an advisory at around 6:36 p.m. that the severe cold is driving up power demand throughout the province and increasing the likelihood of rotational power outages on the electrical system. Albertans are urged to switch off more lights and electrical appliances and to immediately restrict their usage of power to necessities. In addition, Albertans are being asked by AESO to postpone using large electrical appliances and to use space heaters as little as possible.
This comes after the severe weather, high electrical consumption, and insufficient imports caused AESO to issue the grid alert at 3:30 p.m.Owing to “high power demand due to extreme cold, two large natural gas generator outages, and very low renewable power on the system,” AESO also issued a grid alert on Friday afternoon.
The question arises:
Why was this not predicted and how will continuous EV agenda going to help overloaded power grid in the future?
