On April 8, millions of Americans from Texas to Maine will be in the path of a total solar eclipse. During the awe-inspiring event, the moon will block the face of the sun, darkening the sky in the middle of the day as the sun’s corona glows like a fiery ring around the moon. The next total solar eclipse won’t occur in the continental United States until 2044.

The eclipse will spur a celestial show, but electric companies are preparing as if it was a storm due to the potential effect on solar power capacity. Companies also expect there to be congestion on many roads due to the number of people likely to travel to witness the event.

“Electric companies have been working to integrate clean energy resources to combat climate change while also ensuring reliability and resilience for customers today. Each energy source has certain characteristics that electric companies account for," said EEI Senior Vice President of Security and Preparedness Scott Aaronson. 

"In the case of solar power, grid operators manage the impacts of a drop in solar production every day when the sun goes down. They understand that it is intermittent and cannot always be counted on, whether because of cloud cover, nightfall or, more rarely, a solar eclipse. In order to ensure supply meets demand, grid operators understand what resources are available at all times and can account for both increases in demand or dips in supply.  When the upcoming solar eclipse limits solar energy output, electric companies and system operators will be prepared."

Entergy Arkansas and FirstEnergy are just two of the electric companies that have service areas in the path of totality and are preparing accordingly.

Entergy Arkansas is working with officials from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, Arkansas Department of Transportation, and other state and city leaders on a preparedness plan. Like other companies, Entergy Arkansas is preparing for heavy traffic and changes in power capacity but is not expecting outages.

“Planning for power generation during the solar eclipse is very similar to situations where we have thunderstorms or extended cloud cover in the area,” said Adam Effrein, vice president of reliability at Entergy Arkansas. “We’re well-positioned with a diverse portfolio of power generation sources, and we don’t believe there will be any impact on customers’ electric service during this time.”

In Northeast Ohio, FirstEnergy notes that the total solar eclipse won’t be seen again in Ohio until 2099—making this a once-in-a-lifetime event for most Ohioans.

“Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to flock to the region to witness this rare event, and we believe our system can handle the additional electrical load and deliver safe and reliable power to our customers and visitors,” said Pat Mullin, acting president of FirstEnergy’s Ohio operations.

The company has activated its Incident Command System and Emergency Operations Center to ensure thorough coordination, planning, and communications among the entire organization and with local government partners. 

Southern California Edison (SCE) is among many electric companies not in the direct path of the eclipse that already has been making preparations, since the region will still experience a partial eclipse. SCE is working closely with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to prepare for possible power capacity changes. Thanks in part to advanced preparation by CAISO, grid impacts during the last eclipse were minimal.

“Our main concern from an operational standpoint is to make sure that forecasts reflect the changes in load and supply and that our operators and solar generation partners are prepared to respond to CAISO’s instructions to manage what’s expected to be a very fast ramp in load,” said Leo Kim, senior manager of forecasting, analytics, and distributed energy resources at SCE.

Across the country, electric companies’ meteorological teams are also heavily monitoring the predicted weather for the event. Companies’ storm response teams will be ready for action, especially given the higher congestion of customers in certain areas and potential for stormy weather. Additionally, electric company workers will be mobilized across the affected service territories to stand ready for any potential outages. 

Read FirstEnergy’s and Entergy Arkansas’ tips to stay safe while viewing the eclipse. 

Tags : People In Power, All