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The Tennessee Valley Authority has again asked utilities that are purchasing power from them to conserve energy during peak early morning hours.

Morristown Utilities, as well as other electrical utilities in the Lakeway Area had asked their customers to cut back on energy use during the hours of 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Thursday and will once again do so during the same hours Friday so that there will be no blackouts.

“In this very cold period, we appreciate our customers helping us to conserve electricity usage. TVA has made this request across the Valley to ensure our electric grid remains stable”, said Jody Wigington, General Manager/CEO of Morristown Utilities. “MU has lowered its own use through a number of measures, and collectively, our voluntary efforts in this temporary period can make a significant impact to reduce the demand for electricity.”

One to three inches of snow fell across East Tennessee, with higher totals closer to northeast Tennessee and in the Great Smoky Mountains. Low temperatures are expected to drop into the teens overnight into Friday.

TVA made the same voluntary conservation request Jan. 21, the day before it set its all-time highest record of electricity delivered for the second year in a row. The final figures show TVA delivered 35,430 megawatts during the first snow of 2025.

Demand now is lower, but temperatures continue to drop. TVA experienced an average demand of 26,649 megawatts at 3 p.m. ET Feb. 19, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

TVA has been preparing for winter demand all year. Their seasonal readiness program kicked off in September as hydro, gas and coal-generating sites conducted hundreds of tasks to make sure we are prepared to meet peak demand. TVA invested more than $430 million in fiscal year 2024 to harden the system overall.

How Morristown residents can reduce electricity use

Set your thermostat to 65-68 degrees. Each degree you lower your thermostat can save you as much as 3 percent on your monthly energy bill.

Postpone use of your clothes dryer, dishwasher and stove/oven during peak times.

Turn off non-essential appliances and lights during peak times.

Commercial Business: Turn off any lights and office equipment (or place in sleep mode) when not in use and turn off heating outside of business hours.

Why is TVA recommending power conservation?

• Extremely cold temperatures and near-zero wind chill cause an increase in power demand for heating over an extended period of time for more than 10 million people across the TVA seven-state region.

• Colder temperatures mean more people are turning to electrified heat sources, pushing demand higher to what is referred to as a “peak.”

• Winter limits the availability of solar generation in the morning hours.

What is Peak Demand?

Peak demand is the highest number of megawatts consumed in a specific period of time by power consumers all across the TVA system.

• The record for system load at this time is 33,482 MW set on August 16, 2007. The previous record load for a winter day was 33,427 MW set on December 23, 2022.

• In the past year, TVA has added approximately 1,500 megawatts of new natural gas generation — enough to power 878,000 homes.