Rolling blackouts continue throughout today

Northwest Arkansas residents are experiencing rolling blackouts again today as utility companies try to reduce demand for power because of the winter weather.

Temperatures dipped to 20 degrees below zero in some parts of the region overnight. The sun was shining this morning and the temperature crept up to 15 degrees at noon with the forecast of the next snow storm to arrive this evening.

Peter Main, spokesman in Fayettteville for Southwestern Electric Power Co., said some controlled outages began about 7 a.m. and ended about 10:30 a.m. this morning. About 4,500 customers in Benton and Washington counties were affected, according to the SWEPCO power outage map.

"We continue our operations until we receive notice from Southwest Power Pool that our efforts have been successful and we've been able to reduce the load. This is an ongoing event. We recognize that creates uncertainty for our customers and we're working to limit the duration to a few hours. By rotating the areas we hope to limit the impact on any one area."

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Main said customers who do have power should conserve energy.

"Even a small thing -- lowering the thermostat a few degrees, not using major appliances or turning off some lights -- multiplied by thousands of customers, can have an impact," he said.

Ashley Harris, vice-president for marketing and communications for Ozarks Electric Cooperative, said some customers didn't have power Tuesday morning because of weather conditions and were not controlled outages.

"As of early this morning about 2,400 members were without power," Harris said. "None of these, so far, have been due the the controlled power outages."

Harris said the utility is expecting to implement the controlled power outages when directed to do so by the Southwest Power Pool, which manages the power grid for the region.

With the power outages continuing, more residents are in need of temporary shelter. The West Fork Fire Department announced it would be open as a warming shelter anytime.

The West Fork School District said the elementary school cafeteria would be open from noon to 6 p.m. today as a warming shelter. The school will also provide free meals for children 18 and younger.

Members of the Southwest Power Pool on Sunday asked all customers to conserve power for 48 hours beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Monday. The Power Pool manages the electric grid across 14 central and western states including Arkansas.

The conservation efforts and possibilities of outages extend to all of the electric utilities serving Northwest Arkansas, including the municipal systems in Bentonville and Siloam Springs.

Travis Matlock, with the city of Bentonville, said the city is a wholesale customer of SWEPCO and will be notified by that company if outages are planned.

Holland Hayden, with the city of Siloam Springs, said the city is supplied with power by the Grand River Dam Authority in Oklahoma and has already experienced some power outages. She said she had no information on the number of customers affected but the outages generally lasted 45 minutes to an hour.

Matlock and Hayden said their cities will provide information to customers on the city websites, Facebook and other social media.

The electric companies are posting notices on websites and social media.

According to reports from The Associated Press, millions of people were without power amid subfreezing temperatures, and authorities warned of treacherous travel conditions in many states.

The storm system left behind record-setting cold temperatures with wind-chill warnings extending through the nation's midsection, from Canada into Mexico, and another wave of snow and ice was predicted late today and Wednesday along a storm front extending deep into the South.

Four to six inches of snow is expected to fall as the storm front moves into Northwest Arkansas on late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

The snow will likely arrive between 9 p.m. Tuesday and midnight, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow accumulation will be possible through midday Wednesday.

More rounds of snow are possible before the storm clears early Thursday, according to the service’s website.

Heavier, wetter snow is anticipated compared to snow from Sunday and Monday’s storm. Blowing snow is less likely to be an issue, though reduced visibility for travelers is probable during the worst parts of the storm, according to the service’s website.