Athens Utilities Electric Department Manager Blair Davis is asking customers to curtail energy use during the current cold to help prevent electrical outages during the peak hours of 5 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 10 p.m.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplies electric power to Athens Utilities, announced a valleywide voluntary curtailment Tuesday morning due to extremely cold temperatures across the Tennessee Valley.

Athens Utilities is asking customers to keep electric use at “an absolute minimum,” eliminating any unnecessary electric operations such as lights, laundry or other electric appliances that aggravate the already high demand on the electric distribution system at this time, according to a press release issued Tuesday afternoon.