CNN
—
Nashville Mayor John Cooper on Saturday urged the NFL’s Tennessee Titans to postpone their scheduled noon CT game amid ongoing rolling blackouts due to the winter storm.
“I’ve been informed that (Tennessee Valley Authority’s) unilateral rolling blackouts will continue. All non-essential businesses should reduce power usage,” Cooper said in a tweet. “I’ve asked the Titans to postpone their 12pm game in solidarity with our neighbors. TVA needs to invest in infrastructure to withstand extreme temps.”
The Titans (7-7), losers of four straight games, are set to play the Houston Texans (1-12-1) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
CNN has reached out to the NFL and the Titans for comment.
Cooper, the mayor of Metro Nashville and Davidson County, issued the tweet after the TVA directed local power companies to reduce their power load due to high demand as residents turned up the heat to fight the brutally cold temperatures.
“Planned intermittent interruptions support system reliability,” the TVA said. “We appreciate everyone’s patience and support as we manage this unprecedented demand.”
Specifically, the TVA told local power companies to interrupt power in 15-minute intervals, according to a tweet from CDE Lightband, a local power company out of Clarksville, Tennessee. CDE Lightband asked their customers to conserve as much electricity as possible, noting that more load would be put on the system as people begin to wake up.
Similarly, according to Nashville Electric Service, the “duration of the extreme frigid temperatures” has continued to cause a strain on the TVA’s power generation facilities. The electric service told customers Saturday morning to expect “rotating, intermittent power outages” in about 10-minute increments every one-and-a-half to two hours.
The rolling outages are expected to last until the power load is stabilized, the service said.
A day earlier, TVA informed residents there would be rolling blackouts due to the winter storm, though that directive was later rescinded.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland told CNN on Friday hospitals and medical offices were exempt. The agency did not anticipate the extent of the situation prior to the storm, he said.
“This is a real struggle. This has never happened in my lifetime, this hasn’t happened in Memphis in at least 50 years,” Strickland said.
Sumber: www.cnn.com
