Now lemme throw out a few questions here: Why would they reduce voltage? Would this not drive amperage UP? And further load the generators and transformers up as well?
With the various kinds of loads on the grid, power companies have found that they can reduce power consumption by about 1% per volt of voltage reduction, measured on a 120V outlet. Resistive loads' consumption drops more than that, but that is offset by A/C motors to some extent, as they will draw more current to get the same wattage. But they still can reduce load by dropping voltage. Which could help avoid load shedding.
