Families could be without power this weekend as Winter Storm Fern is expected to bring bitter cold, snow, sleet and ice from New Mexico to New England.
The storm is expected to affect more than 170 million Americans by Monday, according to the National Weather Service. At least 14 states in the South, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic states have declared states of emergency.
Catastrophic ice accumulation is expected across the Southern Plains, Lower Mississippi River, Tennessee Valley, and Southeast, which could result in “extended power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable conditions,” the NWS warns.
More than 12 inches of snow is expected in the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, potentially causing widespread traffic disruptions.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a letter to grid operators Thursday that the Department of Energy stands ready to issue orders to make backup generation available to prevent outages.
natural gas Prices have risen by about 70% this week as demand for home heating is expected to surge. Goldman Sachs warned that the storm could significantly disrupt U.S. natural gas production.
“We expect there will be supply disruptions as wells freeze,” Samantha Dart, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC on Friday.
“We use it for heating. We also use it to generate electricity,” Dart said. “So the days when the gas is not coming out of the ground are when we need it the most.”
Natural gas supply outages during extreme weather conditions can be fatal.
Texas faced bitter cold during February 2021’s Winter Storm Uri, which left more than 4 million people without power for several days. The cause of the power outage was that gas-fired power generation was largely halted due to insufficient fuel supply due to frozen wellheads and pipelines.
At least 210 people died in the storm. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said most of the deaths were related to power outages and included cases of hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning and medical conditions exacerbated by subfreezing temperatures.
The current situation is straining the power grid in many parts of the United States due to increased demand from data centers and delays in the construction of new power plants.
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation warns that data center energy consumption makes it more difficult to maintain an adequate power supply, especially under extreme demand conditions such as severe winter weather in states such as Texas.
“Significant increases in load from new data centers and other large industrial end users are driving up winter electricity demand forecasts and contributing to the continued risk of supply shortages,” NERC said in an analysis released in November for Texas.
Energy Secretary Wright asked power transmission providers to “prepare backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities to be available as needed” in the event of this weekend’s storm.
