Load Following

A wheeling utility’s obligation to make up from its own generation sources any difference in the amount of power being wheeled and the requirements of the customer receiving or the supplier delivering the wheeled power. This involves dedicating sufficient generating capacity to the automatic generator control (AGC) mode and monitoring mismatches between intended and actual interchanges between control areas and transmitting control signals to AGC generators to minimize this mismatch. Load following helps maintain system frequency. Otherwise, generators would slow down if demand exceeded supply and speed up if supply exceeded demand. Both situations could result in an unstable situation that could lead to a widespread outage.