The Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) today issued an order requesting information on Iowa electric utilities’ plans for addressing potential electric service load shedding on peak usage days for the upcoming winter season. The order also sets a technical conference for 9 a.m. October 15, 2024, to allow utilities to share their plans for load shedding and answer further questions from the IUC.
The IUC is taking this action in light of long-duration extreme weather events in recent winter seasons, such as February 2021 winter storms that resulted in energy infrastructure failures and electric generation load shedding across the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) regions. The load shed, a temporary shutdown made to avoid system failure, affected some parts of Iowa and jeopardized the reliability of the North American bulk power system. The impact of wide-area extreme weather events has underscored the need to consider scenarios for resource planning.
Iowa Code § 476.17 authorizes the IUC to adopt rules requiring public utilities to establish peak-load management procedures. The IUC adopted rules at 199 Iowa Administrative Code 20.11 requiring rate-regulated utilities to have plans for notifying customers in the event of a peak demand. The plans are to include an explanation of what conditions will require a peak alert, general notice to the public of the peak alert, and the messages that will be sent to the public. The rule requires that the plan be made available to the IUC upon request.
The IUC opened dockets in 2022 and 2023 to address projected energy shortfalls for winter and summer seasons. The IUC continues to stress the importance of Iowa’s electric utilities' need to plan for potential shortfalls in electric capacity and possible need to shed load during peak usage days.
Today’s order opens Docket No. INU-2024-0002 to further the IUC’s dialogue regarding Iowa electric utilities’ preparedness into the winter of 2024-2025, and for rate-regulated utilities to respond to a set of questions by October 11, 2024. Other Iowa utilities and interested parties also may respond to the questions and participate in the technical conference.
Persons with disabilities who will require assistive services or devices to observe or participate in the technical conference should contact the IUC at (515) 725-7300 at least five business days in advance to request arrangements.