Duke Energy apologizes after confusing text message to customers about high energy demand
Duke Energy sent a text message to customers’ phones Thursday to say that it anticipates a high energy demand on Friday.
Officials, in the text message, asked people to minimize power usage from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. to keep demand low.
However, the utility company didn’t explain what exactly was going on.
I’ve reached out to Duke Energy for more information about this message sent to some customers: Duke Energy: Tomorrow, 2024-01-05, we anticipate energy demand to be high. Please take steps to minimize power use from 6:00 to 9:00 am to keep energy demand low.
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) January 4, 2024
Temperatures Friday will be cold, but not the coldest we’ve seen this week, which left some bewildered.
>>Read the last forecast from Channel 9 Meteorologist John Ahrens here.
RELATED: Winter weather system headed to North Carolina
After the text message was sent, Duke Energy clarified with Channel 9′s Joe Bruno that there was no imminent threat to the power grid and that it was part of an “educational program.”
After that, Duke Energy apologized because the text message was confusing for customers.
“Customers received a notification asking to reduce energy Friday,” said Jeff Brooks, Duke Energy grid specialist, on X. “No reliability issues on Friday. This was part of an educational program to encourage customers to save energy. Messaging was confusing and we apologize.”
Correction to an earlier tweet. Some @DukeEnergy customers received a notification asking to reduce energy Friday. No reliability issues on Friday. This was part of an educational program to encourage customers to save energy. Messaging was confusing and we apologize.
— Jeff Brooks (@DE_JeffB) January 5, 2024
Duke Energy statement on the educational program:
“This is part of an educational program to help customers be aware of their energy use on days when there is higher than usual demand for electricity.
“The goal is to help them be as mindful as possible of their energy usage on cold days. There is no imminent threat to the grid, but we will be doing our part during cold weather to help manage energy across the grid, and hope our customers will also engage with us.”
(WATCH BELOW: Last Christmas Eve, Duke Energy turned off power to 500,000 could it happen again?)
