The North American Electric Reliability Corp. rang in the New Year with a grid reliability warning ahead of an expected winter storm that officials said could last “deep into January.”
“I'm asking everyone in the electricity supply chain, from natural gas producers to pipeline operators, to system operators, to power generators and the utilities themselves, to take all appropriate actions to ensure that we can maintain an uninterrupted supply of electricity to customers,” NERC President and CEO Jim Robb said in a video message published Dec. 31.
NERC said its approach to extreme weather events includes mandatory cold weather reliability standards, guidelines on cold weather preparations, follow-up on Winter Storm Elliott recommendations, alerts, industry webinars, and the publication of seasonal assessments.
AccuWeather meteorologists say Arctic blasts of cold air are expected across much of the eastern half of the U.S. starting this weekend, “which could result in the lowest January temperatures in more than a decade in some places.”
“We’re going to be dealing with the coldest air of the season and multiple days of subzero temperatures from the northern Plains and Upper Midwest into the Tennessee Valley,” AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said in an email.
Robb said that by taking early action, electric system stakeholders can help to avoid a repeat of widespread outages that resulted from Winter Storm Uri in 2021 in Texas and Winter Storm Elliott in 2022 across the Mid-Atlantic region.
The series of anticipated cold fronts could last two to three weeks, he said.
“While forecasts are forecasts and undoubtedly contain errors, these systems do seem to have the potential to bring a prolonged period of very cold weather, as cold as single digit temperatures in the U.S. South,” Robb said.
In a statement, NERC said it is “especially concerned about natural gas supply given the significant amount of production in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.”
“There could be a series of successive events that could create challenges for those reliant on inventoried fuels,” NERC said.
The Natural Gas Supply Association says its members have taken steps to prepare and winterize their systems. Colder weather and increased demand are expected to put “slight upward pressure” on gas
prices compared to last winter, the group said in its winter outlook published in October. It also projected higher-than-average gas storage, and record production and supply, this winter.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul, D, directed state agencies to prepare for the storms. Heavy snow is anticipated through Sunday across some parts of the state.
New York’s Department of Public Service “will track utilities' work throughout the event and ensure utilities shift appropriate staffing to regions that experience the greatest impact,” the governor’s office said in a statement Monday.
