A UE may, responsive to detecting a power-related condition, send a message to induce the master node to release the secondary node. Such a message can include a message reporting a radio link failure of the secondary node, or, if a channel quality indicator is configured for at least some of the secondary cells of the secondary node, reporting a low CQI value so that the network can cease scheduling on such cells. Alternatively, in a carrier aggregation (CA) mode, with the UE connected to a single node comprising a primary cell and one or more secondary cells, the UE may not control which and how many secondary cells with which it communicates. In such a scenario, if such secondary cells are configured for channel quality indicator reporting, the UE may report a low CQI value so that the node will cease scheduling data on such cells.