A number of U.S. utility companies have called on customers to conserve power due to freezing weather Saturday and Sunday.
Con Edison, which serves the New York metropolitan area, has asked its 1.1 million natural gas, 3.5 million electric and other customers in New York to retain. Powerful. Temperatures in the Big Apple dipped to around 15 degrees F overnight Saturday and Sunday morning.
“Conserving energy as much as possible now will help ensure an adequate supply of natural gas for the rest of the weekend,” Con Edison said Saturday night. “Gas pipeline owners have reported that equipment problems caused by cold weather and high demand for natural gas are testing their ability to deliver adequate amounts of gas throughout the Northeast,” the company added. of public services.
Another, ISO New England, warned on Saturday that it had “insufficient reserve supplies” and called on its members to “voluntarily reduce power” due to strain on the power grid, Bloomberg reported.
We have declared a power of caution for the region, and [are] drawing on reserve resources due to the unexpected loss of production and imports,” ISO New England spokesman Matthew Kakley told Bloomberg News.
Duke Energy, which operates in several states, made a similar request to customers earlier Saturday. according to to a press release. He cited tight supplies due to high energy consumption and unusually cold temperatures.
The statement said it “is asking its customers in Ohio and Kentucky to voluntarily reduce the use of all non-essential electricity until 10 a.m. on Christmas Day,” which “will help member utilities of PJM to continue to provide reliable service during this period of very low temperatures across the region.”
Later Saturday, the company said it would enforce blackouts in North and South Carolina on Christmas Eve due to increased strain on the grid. At one point around noon Saturday, some 340,000 Duke customers were without power.
Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper, Democrat, wrote on Twitter that he had spoken with Lynn Good, CEO of Duke Energy, “to offer assistance and express the urgency of the need to quickly restore power in this extreme cold while keeping customers accurately informed.”
“I am grateful to the workers who braved the wind and the cold to restore power,” the governor wrote.
Also on Saturday, Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection sent an emergency conservation alert to 13 states or continued blackouts could be imposed. He asked customers to set their thermostats lower than usual and not to use major appliances such as hair dryers, dishwashers, stoves and others.
“It will be short-lived, we will do everything we can to prevent it, but it is a real possibility,” said Mike Bryson, senior vice president of operations for PJM. Told local media.
Blinding blizzards, freezing rain and freezing cold that enveloped much of the United States knocked out power to about 1.7 million homes and businesses. PJM’s territory covers all or part of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, DC
PJM officials said the simultaneous increase in demand in its power system was due to some power plants struggling to operate in the extreme cold. They warned of power cuts and said they wanted people to be prepared. Commercial and industrial electricity users have also been asked to reduce, according to PJM.
More than 2,700 US flights were canceled on Saturday, with total delays of more than 6,400, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. More than 5,000 flights were canceled on Friday, FlightAware said.
Weather-related car crashes across the country have left at least 16 people dead and hundreds stranded on icy and snowy roads, according to media reports.
In upstate New York’s Erie County, about 500 motorists were stranded in their vehicles from Friday evening to Saturday morning as the National Guard was called in to assist with rescues, media told Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. At least one person was found dead in a car, he said.
It will start to moderate west to east across America, with the high plains and central United States returning to normal by Tuesday, but it won’t warm up on the east coast until Thursday or Friday, according to forecasters.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Jack Phillips is a senior reporter for the New York-based Epoch Times. He covers the news.
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