It may feel like fall outside, but that means winter isn’t far behind with its increased demand in electricity.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) outlook for the winter of 2023–24 isn’t much different than recent years, but once again the concern lies with the potential for high loads or high outages in January.

MISO is an independent, not-for-profit organization that delivers electric power across 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba, covering 45 million people, including Harrison REMC.

According to a recently published winter outlook, MISO expects to handle typical demand and generation outages well with sufficient resources to cover winter peak load forecasts. The potential exception would be if a deep freeze in January causes an unusual increase on either or both fronts. The monthly peak could range from 102–107 gigawatts with resources ranging from 100.7 to 121.8 GW, making emergency protocols a possibility.

Strain on the system is expected to lessen in February with a greater availability of firm resources and lower peak demand.

MISO experienced one maximum generation event last winter when Winter Storm Elliott moved through on Dec. 23.