US power grids are expected to grapple with unprecedented seasonal demand and the threat of blackouts after a damaging winter storm coated parts of the South and Mid-Atlantic in ice — leaving brutal cold in its wake.
More than 800,000 homes and businesses nationwide are currently without electricity as snow and ice wreak havoc on local distribution lines. Grids so far have avoided larger system-level cuts, but frigid wind chills will likely persist all week, testing seasonal power-demand records from New England to Texas.
The PJM Interconnection grid that stretches from Chicago to Washington DC warned late Sunday it’s bracing ...