REMC Navigates Energy Challenges
Energy is a limited resource. It must be produced just like any other product. So when your A/C kicks on, a powerplant has to make your electricity and deliver it to you, almost instantaneously. This summer, there is a chance that there may not be enough electricity to go around. The trend for the last several years has been to shut down coal plants – which can be expensive to run and are not great for the environment – and replace that energy with cheaper natural gas and cleaner renewable energy. Global issues like the COVID pandemic, supply chain and material shortages, and the war in Ukraine, have caused natural gas prices to skyrocket in the last two years, and materials for renewable energy projects just aren’t as available or affordable as they were a few years ago.
This might sound scary, but there is no need to be afraid. Clark County REMC is prepared to meet this challenge. If the time comes when members are asking for more electricity than our grid can produce, REMC will first start by switching our headquarters to generator power. We believe that we shouldn't ask you to do something that we're not willing to do ourselves. Next, we will ask our large commercial members if they are willing to do the same. One large company running off generators could prevent 200 homes from going without power during an emergency. Then we will turn off the electricity to a small sections of our membership, but only for 30 minutes at a time. Then we will turn the power back on for the first group, and create a 30-minute outage for a second group. We will repeat that process until the emergency is over.
If REMC is notified that the grid is nearing a capacity emergency, we will give all of our members as much notice as possible so they can plan accordingly.”
For more information, visit our Blackouts page.
Jason Clemmons, CEO