A devastating winter storm knocked out power to nearly 2 million homes and businesses in the United States Saturday, while millions more worry about the impact of more power outages on their Christmas travel plans, the Associated Press writes.
Blizzards, freezing rain, and extreme cold blanketed most of the countrycutting power to about 1.7 million homes and businesses as major utilities warned their 65 million customers in the eastern US that blackouts may be necessary.
Across the country, authorities have attributed at least 10 deaths to exposure to icy and snow-covered roads, storm damage and car accidents.
Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection said power plants are struggling to operate in the freezing weather and asked residents in 13 states to refrain from using non-essential electricity. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six contiguous states, on Saturday ordered local power companies to implement planned outages to “ensure the reliability of the electric power system.”
Nearly 400,000 New England customers were without power on Saturday morning, and some utilities have warned it could take days to restore power. More than 415,000 customers have been without power in North Carolina, according to poweroutage.us. The PJM Interconnection Systemwide Conservation Emergency Call advised residents to set thermostats lower than normal, to delay the use of appliances that use more energy, such as stoves and dishwashers, and to turn off non-essential lights. Commercial and industrial electricity users were also asked to reduce consumption. According to utility service officials, the increased demand has arisen at the same time in the electrical system because some power plants have a hard time operating in the extreme cold.
