Alberta faces third consecutive grid alert

A third grid alert has been issued by The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) on Sunday afternoon. The grid alert was issued just before 4 p.m.

"Please reduce electricity consumption to essential use only, until 8 p.m. to avoid the possibility of rotating outages," AESO advised Albertans.

This is the third grid alert issued in as many days. On Saturday evening, the grid alert issued by AESO triggered Alberta's Emergency Alert system. No such alert has been issued thus far on Sunday.

Tips to conserve electricity include:

• Turn off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances;
• Minimize the use of space heaters;
• Delay the use of major power-consuming appliances such as washers, dryers and dishwashers;
• Delay charging electric vehicles and/or plugging in block heaters;
• Cook with your microwave, crockpot or toaster oven instead of an electric stove or oven;
• Limit the use of kitchen or bathroom ventilation fans;
• Work on a laptop instead of a desktop computer (laptops are more energy-efficient than desktop units);
• Unplug electric appliances when not in use, as they continue to drain energy even if they’re off (or use a power bar to cut power to multiple appliances with a single button);
• Close your curtains/shades/blinds to cover drafty windows.

In response to the alert, The City of Edmonton stated on its X account (formerly Twitter) that it would be turning off non-essential lighting on the High Level & Walterdale Bridges this evening to reduce electricity consumption.

Cochrane and much of Alberta are still under an extreme cold warning.