Southwest Power Pool Presents Report Following Power Outages From Historic Winter Storm

More than six months after record cold and snow blanketed much of Oklahoma, state and regional utility regulators are reviewing how they responded.

On Tuesday, the Southwest Power Pool, which manages the electric grid for much of the central United States including Oklahoma, presented a more than 100-page report to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

"This is not something we ever want to see happen again," said Lanny Nickell, the COO of the Southwest Power Pool.

While it may be hard to remember now with summer temperatures, back in February, Oklahoma looked a lot different. A long stretch of below-freezing temperatures put an unprecedented strain on the region's power grid.

For short stretches on February 15th and 16th, the Southwest Power Pool voluntarily knocked out power to parts of Oklahoma to protect the entire system, the first time in its history.

In March, the SPP created a committee to investigate what happened.

Nickell said after investigating for months, the committee has now developed 7 key observations and 22 recommendations. He said lack of fuel, combined with high natural gas prices, were the biggest factors in the power grid's strain.

"The one that was hit hardest by the lack of fuel issue was gas,” said Nickell.

Nickell said the committee prioritized recommendations based on urgency, finding four actions needed to make sure this doesn't happen again, including improving fuel assurance measures and resource planning.

"We don't take this lightly and we're going to work to put the right mechanisms in place," said Nickell.

The Southwest Power Pool is now working on a project plan to fix those issues. They will submit that to their board in October.

To view their full report, click here.