New Winter Storm Threatens Fragile Electrical Grids in Texas, Other Parts of U.S. Second storm will prolong icy conditions for many already struggling with snow and extreme temperatures
Wednesday, February 17, 2021, 1:58 PM ET
By Talal Ansari and Katherine Blunt
Wall Street Journal
Millions of Americans remained without power for a third consecutive day, as another winter storm began blanketing parts of the South with more snow and freezing rain.
The new storm, which will move toward the East Coast later this week, will prolong icy conditions in some areas hit earlier this week by an Arctic blast of subzero temperatures and snow, according to the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.
Predictions show snowfall of four inches and above from Oklahoma to the mid-Atlantic region, with Pennsylvania potentially seeing eight inches or more later this week. "Significant freezing rain is also likely from Texas to Tennessee and North Carolina to Virginia," the weather service said on Twitter , adding that parts of Texas, Mississippi and the Mid-Atlantic could accumulate swaths of ice a half-inch thick.
Hazardous weather will move into the Florida panhandle and the Carolinas on Thursday, including the possibility of tornadoes, the NWS warned.
The freezing conditions have strained electrical grids across the U.S., and left millions of people without power . At least 20 people have died due to weather-related issues, according to the Associated Press.
In Texas, where extreme temperatures have broken decadelong records in multiple cities, about 2.8 million households remain without power ahead of the next storm, according to the state's utility.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas , which operates the state's electricity grid, said it directed electricity providers to restore enough power to supply about 600,000 households on Tuesday evening. The grid operator managed to restore some balance to the system overnight, but lost the ability to import power from the Midwest as demand there surged amid the cold spell.
"We know millions of people are suffering," Ercot Chief Executive Bill Magness said in a statement. "We have no other priority than getting them electricity. No other priority."
About 185 generation units have tripped offline in Texas, the grid operator said.
CenterPoint Energy Inc ., a utility that supplies electricity in the Houston area, said about 1.39 million customers were without power Wednesday morning.
Austin Energy, the city's community-owned electric utility, said the city is facing "two emergency events," namely, that the utility company is continuing outages to help maintain Texas' broader statewide electric grid and that ice storms are causing further outages.
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"Customers should be prepared to not have power through Wednesday and possibly longer," Austin Energy said in a statement.
Outside of Texas, hundreds of thousands were without electricity for most of Monday and Tuesday.
In Oregon, where Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency over the weekend following heavy snow in parts of the state, more than 150,000 customers remained without electricity, according to poweroutage.us . Other states, including Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Louisiana and Mississippi, were also experiencing outages.
In Nebraska, temperatures hit near-record lows in some places. Nebraska Public Power District , which supplies power to most of the state, said early Wednesday it would move to its highest emergency level, which would include planned blackouts. Later, the utility said it would stay at level 2.
"We have been able to avoid service interruptions this morning, but things may change quickly," the company said, adding that the next few hours were critical. On Tuesday, Lincoln recorded its second-coldest temperature on record at -31°F, according to the National Weather Service in Omaha.
The previous and coming storms have also disrupted the country's vaccination program, with Covid-19 testing and vaccination sites in numerous states closed Tuesday and into Wednesday. Shipments of the vaccine have also been delayed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
The CDC is anticipating widespread delays, as bad weather affects deliveries out of vaccine shipping hubs in Memphis, Tenn., and Louisville, Ky., said Jasmine Reed, an agency spokeswoman. "Shipping partners are working to deliver vaccine where possible, contingent on local conditions," Ms. Reed said.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday the storm delay in vaccine shipments had led the city to postpone scheduling 30,000 new appointments or more.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said Wednesday that 35,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were sent to eight providers in North Texas, but their arrival depends on weather conditions. There were no shipments of the Moderna vaccine, the department said.
"Postponed vaccinations will resume as soon as it is safe," the department said. "No one wants to put vaccine at risk by attempting to deliver it in dangerous conditions."
Write to Talal Ansari at
Talal.Ansari@wsj.com and Katherine Blunt at
Katherine.Blunt@wsj.com
New Winter Storm Threatens Fragile Electrical Grids in Texas, Other Parts of U.S. - WSJ