Extreme cold causes school closure, electricity shortage

By Rob Vogt
As temperatures dropped to minus-35 degrees Celsius and colder, they not only caused people to plug in their vehicles, dress in layers and take other precautions, they caused the closure of schools and a call by the provincial government to conserve electricity.
On Jan. 11, the Livingstone Range School Division announced that due to the extreme cold weather and windchills, and the safety of students and staff, all schools in the division were closed on Friday, Jan. 12. All extracurricular activities planned for the weekend were also cancelled. Schools were open on Monday, Jan. 15, but due to the cold weather and windchills in the morning, buses did not run.
Meanwhile, on Jan. 13, Nathan Neudorf, minister of affordability and utilities, issued a statement in response to an electrical grid alert from the Alberta Electrical Systems Operator.
That alert went out over the province’s emergency broadcast system, requesting everyone to conserve electricity.
“We are calling on all Albertans to reduce their electric demand immediately to essentials only,” Neudorf said. “Extreme cold resulting in high power demand has put the province’s electricity grid at high risk of rotating outages tonight.
“The Alberta Electric System Operator has activated its emergency grid management plan to work with local distribution utilities to avoid potential rolling brownouts.”
Albertans responded, cutting their electricity consumption, and preventing any rolling brownouts.