(Moohead, MN) -- Those rolling power blackouts we've seen in recent days may not be over just yet.
Moorhead Public Service has been closely monitoring the ongoing Southwest Power Pool Energy Emergency Alert situation, and will continue to do so for at least the next 24 to 48 hours, with the possibility of another blackout.
The EEA has four levels (1 through 4) of emergency, with Level 1 being the lowest. Through Wednesday night and Thursday morning, SPP has been fluctuating between EEA Levels 1 and 2, and is currently in an EEA Level 1 status. If the situation reaches Level 3, MPS may be required to resume rolling outages.
Based on information from SPP and Western Area Power Administration, there is a low probability of entering EEA Level 3 Thursday. However, MPS is making customers aware of the situation due to the extreme weather conditions in the SPP footprint and the possibility, even if it is low, of more rolling outages.
MPS does say it will provide as much advanced notice as possible before commencing rolling outages in Moorhead, if they become necessary. If MPS needs to initiate rolling outages, the first area affected will be in the Red Zone and then alternate to the Blue Zone every other 30 minutes until MPS is allowed to go back to normal operations by SPP/WAPA.