Grid Ready: Why Energy Emergency Alert Training is Crucial to Staying Prepared

It’s that time of year again when the dog days of summer offer little respite from the heat, yet we’ve also entered into the hurricane season. Both extreme temperature and storm-related weather events can trigger energy emergency alerts (EEAs), which occur when a region’s power grid nears a shortage of electricity.

These alerts are categorized by severity (e.g., CSO Watch or Warning, EEA-1, EEA-2, EEA-3), and can result in a range of actions needed from power suppliers, including local utilities – everything from voluntary conservation requests to mandatory load shedding. You can read more about the different levels here.

In 2023, we had three Conservative System Operations (CSO) watches and four warnings due to high temperatures and storms. That number grew to three watches and eight warnings in 2024, including two cold temperature events and hurricanes Debby, Francine and Helene. Helene was the most destructive storm to hit MEAG Power’s territories in its history, with sustained winds of 140 mph and heavy rainfall causing power outages, broken transmission poles, trees hanging on transmission wires and significant debris.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts a 50% chance of an above-normal hurricane season in 2025, with 13 to 18 named storms. This includes 2-5 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5, with winds of 111 mph or higher).

Add in the rise in demand for 24/7 electricity from economic growth, data centers and electrification, and it is imperative that public power utilities stay up to date in their emergency and manual load shed preparedness.

That’s why MEAG Power offers both summer and winter energy emergency alert drills – to help Participants stay prepared for potential emergencies. The most recent training in May included exercises that involved simulations of a CSO Warning, EEA-2, EEA-3 and two manual load sheds, where Participants practiced what to do in each scenario.

The next scheduled training is December 3, 2025.

To learn more about the MEAG Power emergency training, reach out to your regional manager.