After almost 24 hours of asking Mid-South residents to reduce their energy consumption to ease strain on the electrical grid, Memphis Light Gas and Water has lifted its conservation alert.
The reversal comes after electrical demand reached a record high for the Tennessee Valley Authority on Wednesday morning.
TVA – which provides MLGW with its power supply – reported 34,526 megawatts of output at about 9 a.m. as subfreezing temperatures persisted across the area of southern states that it serves.
The average temperature across the system was four degrees.
TVA’s previous record for electrical demand was 33,482 megawatts in August of 2007.
When supply cannot keep up with demand, power companies can order rolling blackouts like was the case in Memphis in December 2022.
The head of MLGW, Doug McGowen, said previously that TVA has taken precautions to avoid a repeat of that scenario.
On Tuesday afternoon MLGW called on the public to help reduce pressure on the electrical grid and the likelihood of possible blackouts by cutting back on their energy consumption.
"Thanks to all our customers who took action to conserve electricity. Together, we navigated the highest all-time peak demand the TVA system has seen," McGowen said in a statement on Wednesday.
He said that MLGW would continue to monitor the weather for possible impacts on the utility's infrastructure as temperatures will remain low.
Possible freezing rain on Thursday could also affect power lines.
MLGW says customers should continue to drip faucets to protect their pipes from freezing.