The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission urged the public on Saturday to conserve electricity through Christmas morning as the mid-Atlantic’s major grid operator warned of surging demand and difficulty for some power plants to operate amid the extreme cold.
Valley Forge-based PGM Interconnection, the electricity grid operator for 65 million people in 13 states and the District of Columbia, issued a call for conservation late Friday. Residents are asked to reduce electricity usage through 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Electricity consumers are asked to set thermostats lower than usual if health permits, postpone using major electric appliances such as stoves, dishwashers and clothes dryers and turn off non-essential electric lights, equipment and appliances.
“PJM continues to carefully monitor the power supply conditions. It will do everything possible to keep power flowing in the region,” the company said in a news release. “If necessary, PJM may take additional steps, such as reducing voltage.”
The Associated Press reported that short-lived rolling blackouts are a possibility.
The company is coordinating efforts among generators, power suppliers and local utilities, as well as communicating with state government officials. PJM serves all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Pennsylvania’s PUC added that residents can take steps to stay comfortable without increasing electricity, including keeping doors, windows and garage doors closed as much as possible, closing doors to unused rooms and turning down the heat in those spaces, ensuring air vents are not blocked in spaces you are using, and closing curtains at night to help keep the heat in.
“Conserving electricity as much as possible over the weekend will help ensure adequate power supplies,” PUC said in a statement.
Snow, wind and extreme cold throughout much of the country heading into the holiday weekend have resulted in an estimated 1.7 million households and businesses losing power, according to the Associated Press. As of 3 p.m. on Saturday, about 22,500 customers in Pennsylvania were affected by power outages.
Centre County had few current outages on Saturday afternoon, with 61 West Penn Power customers without electricity. The majority were in Snow Shoe Township, where 37 customers had outages.
