A major power grid spanning 14 states, from North Dakota to Texas, has ordered to release eclipses amid an extremely cold blast that hit the south.
Southwest Power Pool (SPP), headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Monday ordered the rolling eclipse and declared a state of emergency. Extreme weather has already deprived millions of homes in Texas, where temperatures were at a record low.
The power grid connects utilities in Oklahoma and Kansas, as well as parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico, the New York Times reported.
The network operator said in a statement on Twitter it was the first time that it had given orders to roll out power outages, and that it was being done to prevent further uncontrolled outages.
“This is a last resort we understand, a burden on our members and the customers they serve, but it is a step we are consciously taking to prevent conditions from getting worse, which could lead to uncontrolled interruptions of even greater scope, “SPP’s executive vice president and chief operating officer Lanny Nickell said in the statement.
SPP is not the only one ordering the eclipse due to the winter storm.
Texas Electric Reliability Board (ERCOT) on Monday issued glowing blackouts in Texas and power provider Oncor told customers that the supply of electricity was ‘lower than the demand’. The cold also caused T-Mobile disruptions in the state.
Officials in Alabama and Kentucky have confirmed that residents in their states have been affected by disruptions – the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management Agency in Alabama said the local Fox 6 that at least 1,800 customers lost power on Monday Kentucky Local Channel KYWX said at least 22,000 customers had lost power.
As of 2pm on Monday, at least 2.8 million Texans had experienced power outages, according to PowerOutage.us.
Dan Woodfin, a senior director of the Texas Electric Reliability Board, which manages the state’s power grid, told a news conference that outages were expected to continue until Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.
“We expect that we will have to continue these controlled interruptions for the rest of today and maybe all day tomorrow,” he said.
Bill Magness, head of the Texas Electric Reliability Board, told Bloomberg that all network operators and electrical businesses in the state are fighting to restore power as soon as possible.
Extremely cold weather and snow are rare in Texas, and the national weather service in the state, in Midland, tweeted early Monday that it recorded a temperature of minus 2 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest temperature in the region in 32 years.
All 254 Texas counties have been under winter weather advice since Sunday night, and President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency and provided Texas assistance with shelter and mass care.
The Department of Energy also issued an emergency order Monday that allows Texas power stations to produce more electricity to help with the power outages, Bloomberg reported.
The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang reported that the storm and extreme cold in Texas and other parts of the south, including Oklahoma and Missouri, were caused in January by a disruption in the polar vortex.