People in Jyväskylä have joined the energy-saving effort enthusiastically

The customers of Alva, the City of Jyväskylä energy company, have actively joined the energy-saving effort. In December 2022, the inhabitants of Jyväskylä consumed around nine per cent less energy than in December 2021. 

According to Kari Kautto, Vice President of Distribution Systems Networks at Alva-yhtiöt Oy, customers started reducing their electricity consumption in September, when the amount of energy transmitted decreased by four per cent from the previous year.

Each month during the autumn, they saved more electricity than in the previous month. 

− The figures were not surprising because we expected the electricity use to decrease by 5-10 per cent simply because Finns are conscientious people and understand why we need to save electricity. The figures show that the people in Jyväskylä have made small everyday changes.

The extraordinary situation in the energy market has led to uncertainty about the sufficiency of the electricity supply. Fingrid has announced that in Finland, we may have to resort to rotating power cuts during the winter.

According to Kautto, it is important to continue saving electricity in the winter and also think of new ways of saving energy, just like Alva does in its operations. 
− If we can continue the joint effort to save electricity, we may not need electricity outages.
− Lowering the room temperature brings permanent savings.  One good way to save electricity is to shift your usage to another time, i.e. from early evening to nighttime. 

Shifting the times of use is not always possible, but everyone can certainly influence their electricity use somehow.

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Alva is not yet able to predict if planned power outages will be necessary. According to Kari Kautto, the sufficiency of electricity will depend on the situation of the Olkiluoto 3 power plant, the supply of electricity from abroad, winds, and the length of the periods when temperatures stay below zero, among other things. 

You can get information on eventual power outages with the power cut alerts that you can subscribe to on the Alva website.  At the beginning of 2022, less than half of Alva's customers were covered by the power cut alert service. By the end of the year, 85 per cent of customers had already subscribed to the alerts.

It would help if you thought in advance what a 1.5−2-hour power outage could mean for your household. At home, you should at least have a flashlight and a battery-operated radio to listen to official announcements. 

− You should limit the use of the toilet so that the drains do not get blocked, because not all the wastewater pumping stations will be in use. 
 
Kautto recommends patience and a calm attitude in case of power outages.

− If you get a power cut alert on your phone, please do not call the electricity company or congest the communication channels. 
 
− When the electricity comes back on, it's worth waiting a while before turning on the electrical appliances so that the consumption does not jump to maximum levels immediately.

Kautto also wants to point out that nobody should compare their situation with that of their neighbour. 

− The apartment building next door, for example, may get its electricity from a different transmission line than your building. For that reason, the blackouts occur at different times in different buildings.

You also need to remember that Alva  is responsible for the electricity networks and distribution in, for example, the inner city, Kuokkala, Keljo and Halssila.  

In Palokka, Vaajakoski, and Korpilahti, Elenia is the electricity supplier, and in these areas, you should order the information on power outages from Elenia.  Järvi-Suomen Energia also has customers in Jyväskylä. 

Text: Pia Tervoja