Massive winter storm batters US, knocks out power ahead of brutal freeze (updated)

Public Service Enterprise

09/01/2024 19:45

(Updates power outages, utilities and hardest hit states in
paragraphs 1-3)
    By Scott DiSavino
       Jan 9 (Reuters) - A massive winter storm moving across
the eastern half of the U.S. on Tuesday knocked out power to
about 811,000 homes and businesses in 12 states ahead of a
brutal freeze expected to blanket the region starting this
weekend.
    The hardest hit states so far are New York and Pennsylvania,
each with about 182,000 power outages, and New Jersey with over
127,000 outages, according to data from PowerOutage.us.
    The biggest power companies in those states are units of Con
Edison  ED.N  in New York, FirstEnergy  FE.N  in Pennsylvania
and Public Service Electric and Gas, a subsidiary of The Public
Service Enterprise Group  PEG.N  in New Jersey.
        Extreme weather is a reminder of the February freeze in
2021 that left millions in Texas and other U.S. Central states
without power, water and heat for days, and a winter storm in
December 2022 - known as Elliott in the energy industry - that
almost caused the collapse of power and natural gas systems in
parts of the eastern half of the country.
    The current storm is covering most of the country east of
the Mississippi River, according to AccuWeather.com. It is
moving toward the U.S. Northeast.
    The storm is coming ahead of what will likely be the
nation's coldest weather since December 2022, according to data
from financial firm LSEG.
    LSEG projected gas demand, used to heat about half the homes
in the country, would reach a daily record of 170.0 billion
cubic feet per day (bcfd) on Jan. 15 and 173.7 bcfd on Jan. 16.
        Traders noted it would be unusual for gas use to hit a
record on Jan. 15 since it is the U.S. Martin Luther King Day
holiday when many businesses and government offices will be shut
for a long weekend.
        If correct, gas demand, including exports, on Jan. 15
and 16 would top the current daily record of 162.5 bcfd set on
Dec. 23, 2022, according to federal energy data from S&P Global
Commodities Insights.
    One billion cubic feet is enough gas to fuel about 5 million
U.S. homes for a day.
    Despite the coming cold, spot power  EL-PK-PJMW-SNL  and gas
 NG-W-HH-SNL  prices have not reacted much to the current storm,
but gas futures  NGc1  have soared about 30% over the past six
days and were trading at a two-month high of around $3.25 per
million British thermal units.  NGA/ 
        
    DECEMBER 2022 STORM
    The December 2022 storm caused some energy companies,
including the Tennessee Valley Authority and Duke, to impose
rotating outages to maintain electric reliability after dozens
of power plants failed to operate.
    Gas flows into pipelines were also reduced during that
storm, as output declined due in part to the freezing of gas
wells, pipes and other equipment. At the same time, demand for
gas for heating and power generation soared, dramatically
lowering line pressures. 
    In New York City, Consolidated Edison was forced to declare
an emergency because it faced a gas system collapse that would
have taken "many months" to restore service in the middle of the
winter.

 (Reporting by Scott DiSavino, Additional reporting by Daksh
Grover and Harshit Verma in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan
Oatis, Aurora Ellis, Deepa Babington and Sonali Paul)
 ((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters
Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))