If a capacity emergency is anticipated during peak loading, what action should be taken regarding maintenance?

When a capacity emergency is anticipated during peak loading, postponing equipment maintenance is a prudent action. During such critical times, the demand for power is at its highest, and ensuring that all available generation sources are operational is essential for maintaining grid stability and reliability.

By deferring maintenance activities, utilities can ensure that their generation and transmission resources remain online and ready to supply electricity. This is paramount because maintenance usually takes equipment offline, which could exacerbate the capacity shortfall during peak demand periods. Maintaining the highest possible operational capacity is necessary to avoid blackouts or load shedding, which could occur if capacity becomes critically low.

In contrast, shedding load, scheduling emergency assistance, or reaching out to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are all reactive measures that may not adequately address the immediate concerns of maintaining power supply during peak times. They may be necessary under certain circumstances but do not directly contribute to maximizing the system's capacity and reliability during a capacity emergency. Thus, postponing maintenance is the most proactive and effective choice in this scenario.