An historic winter storm that delivered blizzard conditions and record cold across much of the U.S. over Christmas weekend was credited with causing rolling blackouts over several states during the Holiday weekend.

Rolling blackouts that lasted anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours were seen in several states including Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia.

The power grid in the affected areas was unable to handle the load.

The blizzard was described as “unprecedented,” and knocked out grid-supplied power to more than 1.8 million customers at the peak of the storm. The fortunate were those homes and businesses that have a solar pv system with battery backup.

Insider reports:

“Freezing temperatures from the ongoing winter storm sweeping the United States have prompted some utility companies to institute “rolling blackouts” to keep power systems from failing.

In the South, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced Saturday morning that it was asking local power companies to “reduce load” due to “continued unprecedented cold temps resulting in high power demand.” The TVA services all of Tennessee. Parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia are also powered by the TVA.

“Planned intermittent interruptions support system reliability,” the company said in a tweet. “We appreciate everyone’s patience and support as we manage this unprecedented demand.”

The TVA began instructing local power companies to reduce power usage on Friday night, and some have instituted rolling blackouts in some cities such as Nashville, Tennessee. Some local power companies have also started using rolling blackouts after the TVA asked them to reduce power usage.” 

https://www.insider.com/us-utility-companies-apply-rolling-blackouts-due-to-freezing-temps-2022-12

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