American utilities are monitoring the current geomagnetic storm hitting Earth. The sun's series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections have the potential to disrupt power grids and communications.
DTE power, based in Detroit, said that while no problems have been reported yet, it received an alert from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the organization that runs power through Michigan and other states.
“As a result, DTE is pausing non-essential testing and maintenance activities and our operators are closely monitoring equipment and communications systems to ensure power system reliability,” DTE Energy's Colleen Rosso told CNN.
duke of energy, which serves more than 8 million people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, said it does not anticipate any outages but is tracking solar activity. He said there have been no fluctuations in the grid yet due to the storm.
georgia power said it is in contact with state and federal partners for reports on solar activity. He also said that he does not anticipate any problems and that his operations are monitoring conditions. The company serves more than 2 million people in Georgia.
He Texas Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million people in Texas. It said it “does not expect grid reliability issues” with the storm and said it will keep customers informed.
In the northeast, Eversourcewhich serves customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, said it has been closely monitoring forecasts and has staff on hand for any disruption through Saturday.
This post has been updated with information from DTE Energy.
