The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) recently announced that a “thorough review” is in place of the events leading up to the rolling blackout mandates during Christmas weekend in Tennessee and beyond.

“We at TVA take full responsibility for the impact we had on our customers. We never want to impact anyone’s energy at any time. This is not the way we want to serve our communities and customers,” TVA released in a statement. “We are conducting a thorough review of what occurred and why.”

TVA added in its statement that it is “committed” to sharing the “lessons learned” and “corrective actions” taken in the future with the public.

“We will learn from this unprecedented event and are committed to providing you with the reliable service you expect and deserve,” TVA further stated.

On the day before Christmas Eve, TVA issued a rolling blackout mandate for 153 local power companies across Tennessee and beyond in response to cold temperatures driving up the power demand. TVA’s mandate carried on into Saturday morning – Christmas Eve – before being terminated, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.

Following the rolling blackout order, TVA announced that it had set “multiple power demand records” during the “extreme weather event.”

On Friday, the day before Christmas Eve, TVA hit the “highest 24-hour electricity demand” in its nearly 90-year history, with 740 gigawatt-hours being supplied. Friday also saw the company experiencing its “highest winter peak power demand” of 33,425 megawatts. In addition, on Saturday (Christmas Eve), TVA hit its “highest weekend peak power demand” in its history, recording a record 31,765 megawatts.

The rolling blackout mandate was also the first time in TVA’s 90-year history that it had to “direct targeted load curtailments due to extreme power demand,” the company additionally added.

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “TVA Control Room” by Tennessee Valley Authority.