More Grid Trouble: Tennessee Valley Authority Asks Customers To Conserve Power Amid Cold Blast

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has asked ten million customers to reduce power consumption for Wednesday morning as record heating demand is forecasted amid a cold blast.

Power supplies are tightening as demand surges this morning, with heating demand expected to spike across TVA’s region. It has asked customers to dial back power usage between 0600 to 1000 local time. 

“Our power system remains stable with our generating plants operating as planned,” TVA CEO and President Jeff Lyash said in a video on Tuesday. 

Lyash continued: “However, we do anticipate the highest peak demand for electricity in TVA history early Wednesday morning.”

TVA operates the largest public power grid and supplies power to Tennessee, northern Alabama, northeastern Mississippi, and southwestern Kentucky and in portions of northern Georgia, western North Carolina, and southwestern Virginia.

“The temperatures will be what are driving the usage numbers on Wednesday morning, and so that’s where that’s where we can use some help from the public,” TVA Spokesperson Scott Brooks said. 

As of late Tuesday, more than 220 million Americans are under “some kind of winter alert,” The Weather Channel posted on X. 

More than half of the Lower 48 is covered in snow. 

Another blast of cold air is expected at the end of this week. 

We still have another Arctic blast on the way for Fri-Sun across the central and eastern U.S. before a much deserved warmup next week.

Temperatures will be slightly less worse with the sequel: Arctic Blast 2 pic.twitter.com/lxPEZAv7MR

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) January 16, 2024

Also, another winter storm. 

Good Afternoon! Snowfall potential map for Friday, January 19th’s system. Trends at 500mb have been good for snowfall & curious to see if they continue. Also, a nice cold air mass in place for this system to work with. #MdWx pic.twitter.com/nv2jQvU8x0

— Ryan Kane (@ryankanerWX) January 16, 2024

The good news: Lower 48 average temps will rise above a 30-year average next week. 

Tired of the extreme cold? A transition to a warmer pattern is expected over the eastern U.S. through the end of January, with above normal precipitation likely to continue east of the Rockies. https://t.co/OmuELOiYIs pic.twitter.com/kjERObhyec

— NWS Climate Prediction Center (@NWSCPC) January 16, 2024

Besides TVA, Texas’ power grid (ERCOT) has been under pressure this week but was spared from collapse. However, we cited a new Bank of America report that revealed grid instabilities are here: “In the next five years, we’re going to see brownouts in major US cities, that’s the magnitude of what’s unfolding.”