As a result, utilities like PG&E in California have asked their customers turn off appliances during the eclipse to help ease the strain on the grid and avoid the need to start up inefficient back-up power plants.
With media reporting that the eclipse could wipe out 9,000 megawatts of power supply across the nation—the equivalent of about nine nuclear reactors—is TVA's electric grid eclipse-ready?.
Patrick Walshe, TVA Operations & Analysis Manager, said the largest public utility in the United States has been readying for this event for months.
Walshe said they will have extra staff on hand at their Chattanooga command center during the eclipse to ensure there are no hiccups.
“We are absolutely ready because
we’ve been preparing for this eclipse like a major storm or
temperature event that could affect our ability to keep electricity
flowing to our consumers.”
TVA currently sources about 400 megawatts of electricity from over 3,000 locations across the Tennessee Valley.
“We don’t put all of our eggs in one generating basket, so we’ll have plenty of power to meet the demand,” Walshe said.
