A radio access network (RAN) may determine that a quality-of-service (QOS) load of a first base station exceeds a QOS load high threshold. The RAN may further determine that a set of wireless communication devices (WCDs) served by the first base station are located within a geographic area nearby a second base station. The RAN may additionally determine that the set of WCDs are responsible for at least a predefined portion of the QOS load of the first base station, and may power on the second base station. If at some point a second QOS load of the second base station falls below a QOS load low threshold, the RAN may facilitate handover of at least one of the WCDs served by the second base station from the second base station to the first base station, and may power off the second base station.