Lansing’s public utility doesn’t want to leave its customers in the dark.
That’s why the Lansing Board of Water and Light is warning of the possibility of brief rolling blackouts this summer.
The BWL says the regional regulator that controls the power grid for parts of the country could encounter energy shortages outside of BWL’s service territory.
That means the utility may be forced to conduct “load shedding,” which means shutting down electric power to prevent system-wide failures in hot weather.
Factors like the retirement of outdated electric production centers, higher usage rates due to more at-home work and high summer temperatures could produce energy shortages.
The utility says if rolling blackouts occur, customers could expect outages lasting about 20 minutes.
Critical services would not be impacted.