On December 15, 2021, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) announced that the Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) process was to be replaced with the Grid Alert notification system. The new process came into effect on January 1, 2022. The key driver for the Grid Alert process was the complexity of the EEA. The former method used a three-step approach, while the Grid Alert uses only one step. The AESO designed the Grid Alert process to give Albertans clear and consistent information without the use of industry jargon.
Since its launch, the AESO has announced several Grid alerts, the most recent on July 8, 2024. In this guide, we look at why Grid Alerts are announced, how they work, as well as what you can do during one of these alerts.
GLOSSARY: Learn more about the AESO and other common energy-related terms in Alberta.
What is a Grid Alert, and why is it announced
A Grid Alert is an announcement that is issued when the provincial power grid is under stress and the AESO is preparing to use emergency reserves to meet demand and maintain system reliability. Grid Alerts can be triggered by various factors, including:
- Heat waves or deep freezes: Both lead to increased usage of heaters or air conditioners respectively.
- The time of day and wind conditions: These factors affect the availability of solar and wind-generated energy.
- Unplanned generation facility outages: This causes a drop in electricity supplies for Alberta’s electricity grid.
- Other factors beyond the control of power distribution companies: For example, lightning, downed power lines, and tornados.
Out of these factors, deep freezes and heat waves are the most frequent causes.
The AESO announces grid alerts through its website and social media channels. Albertans can also subscribe to the AESO’s SMS feed to receive notifications of Grid Alerts. In exceptional circumstances, e.g., if rotating outages are imminent, the AESO coordinates with the Government of Alberta to send out an Emergency Alert. This was the case on January 13, 2024.
How do Grid Alerts work?
When a Grid Alert is underway, the AESO utilizes various measures to ensure grid stability. This includes using emergency reserves, reducing or suspending exports or energy sales, cancelling transmission maintenance, implementing voluntary curtailment programs, and requesting emergency imports. As a last option, the AESO can initiate temporary rotating power outages.
How do heat waves or deep freezes affect the electricity grid?
As noted above, heat waves, deep freezes, and other severe weather events can have a large impact on the Alberta power grid. In each case, electricity demand from consumers increases severalfold, whether it’s from fans, air conditioning units, or heating. This causes the electricity grid to be overwhelmed with demand for electricity and depletion of operating reserves – in such cases, rolling brownouts may be implemented to ensure that no consumers are left without power for too long.
This additionally affects pricing on the electricity market – low electricity supply means high electricity bills at the end of the month, particularly for consumers on variable and RRO rate plans.
What should I do during a Grid Alert?
During a Grid Alert, the AESO advises residents to reduce their electricity use during peak hours (4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.). This helps lower the possibility of the AESO using more serious emergency measures to balance the system, such as rolling power outages. Some easy conservation tips you can follow are:
- Turning off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances.
- Use major power-consuming appliances (e.g., washers and dryers) during off-peak hours.
- Minimize the use of air conditioners or space heaters.
For more energy conservation tips, check out this article.
What are some ways Alberta can avoid grid alerts?
In truth, it would be difficult for Alberta to completely avoid grid alerts. However, the province can take steps to prepare the electricity system for when a grid alert occurs. Here are five such measures Alberta can take to improve grid sustainability and resiliency.
Diversify the power generation system
A lesson learned from the January 2024 grid alerts is that relying on a single generation of electricity can pose problems during emergency conditions. Two factors that led to the January 13, 2024, grid alert were outages at large natural gas plants and reduced generation from wind and solar farms. If Alberta solely relied on either generation source, the situation could have been far worse.
Diverse power generation has already helped Alberta’s electricity system during emergency conditions. The grid alert issued on January 15, 2024, was lifted after increased generation from wind and solar farms provided some relief to the system.
In short, diverse power generation improves grid resiliency and reliability.
Increase energy storage capacity
Energy storage is power saved for use at a later time, usually to offset imbalances between demand and supply. There are several ways to store energy, the most common being battery and pumped hydro. Alberta does not have much energy storage capacity. As of November 2023, the province has 210 MW of storage. While Alberta’s energy storage is low, it did make a difference during the January 2024 grid alerts. According to Jason Wang, a senior analyst at the Pembina Institute, energy storage was a quick source of emergency power. It essentially gave the AESO more time to resolve the situation.
Improving power imports
Alberta does import power from other jurisdictions, but the amount is relatively low. The province only has three connections to B.C., one to Saskatchewan, and one to Montana. Each of these connections also has low capacity. As a result, Alberta has a harder time importing power during emergencies, compared to other provinces. During the January 13-14 2024 grid alerts, Alberta did receive power from the B.C. and Saskatchewan connections, but
Expanding Alberta’s grid connections and improving the existing connections would enable the province to import from more sources and overall make the process easier.
Adopt a smart grid system
A smart grid is a system that sends a signal to electrical devices (EV chargers, washers, dryers, thermostats etc.) to let them know the status of the power supply (either high or low) and the best time to run as a result. Adopting a smart grid system would require careful coordination between government agencies and consumer organizations, but long-term advantages would be evident, the main one being greater levels of demand response from residents. The system would monitor, control, and automate almost all aspects of residents’ energy use. This reduces peak demand and lowers occurrences of power outages.
Long-term planning
The January 2024 grid alerts demonstrate the need for electricity companies and the provincial government to adopt long-term planning to avoid similar situations in the future. This includes climate adaptation strategies. In June 2023, Canada launched its first-ever climate adaptation strategy to reduce the risk of extreme weather events and slow the impacts of global warming. While climate adaptation plans are not mandated for industries, several electricity companies have been monitoring and planning for climate change and extreme weather. Furthermore, Electricity Canada (the industry association for power utilities) released a guide on adaption planning for electricity companies in 2021.
Points that should be considered with climate adaptation are increased electrification (e.g., through EVs) and the addition of renewables and energy storage. Each of these factors will transform how Alberta’s electricity system works and will likely further drive demand on the grid.
Large power consumers and their impact on Alberta’s grid
During the grid alert period in early January 2024, many residents questioned why they were asked to turn off major appliances while many office towers, warehouses, and other large consumers still had their lights on. In the following section, we’ll answer some frequently asked questions about large power consumers and their impact on Alberta’s grid.
What is the energy demand of large electricity consumers?
Some of the largest metered loads have an hourly average of 50-140 MW of usage. There are also industrial sites with over 1,000 MW of load. However, these consumers have self-supplied power and, in many circumstances, provide excess electricity to the grid. The AESO is not involved in power distribution at the local level. Furthermore, power distributors like EPCOR and ENMAX do not provide detailed information on consumption to specific users like office buildings. As a result, the AESO can only estimate the electricity use of those particular consumers. For example, office buildings across Alberta demand around 28% of the total electricity demand in the province. In comparison, residential use accounts for 20%, or one-fifth, of energy usage in Alberta.
Why do office buildings still have their lights on during grid alerts?
As we mentioned earlier, many Albertans were confused as to why office buildings downtown remained lit during the grid alert. Some residents believe turning off the lights would have prevented an emergency alert on January 13, 2024. Industry experts however argue that this action would not have changed the situation. This is due to most office buildings using energy-efficient LED lighting, which does not draw a significant amount from the grid. Energy-saving measures are focused on lowering fans, motors, and pumps for heating and water systems, which use much more electricity. Still, shutting off the lights in office buildings would help the grid, even if the demand taken off would be a small amount.
Does the AESO ask large power consumer to reduce their demand?
According to AESO communications manager Leif Sollid, the operator has agreements with specific large power consumers in which they request them to lower their electricity use. Large power consumers can sign up for the Voluntary Load Curtailment program, which rewards users for shedding demand in a short timeframe (300 or more kWh as requested by the AESO). Another program large consumers can sign up for is the Load Shed Service for imports (LSSi). Under the LSSi, large consumers “agree to be quickly taken offline following the sudden loss of imports coming across the interties”.
Some office buildings in Alberta participate in provincial programs for shedding load, and several of them responded to such requests during the January 13, 2024, grid alert.
