On Friday, multiple U.S. power companies issued an emergency request to customers to turn down their thermostats due to extreme cold and wind straining the power grid. The requests lasted until Christmas Eve on Saturday and were said to be a result of “unprecedented” demand for power during last week’s storm and cold weather.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which supplies power to more than 10 million customers and boasts that the power they deliver is “nearly 60 percent carbon-free,” was forced to use “planned intermittent interruptions” during the crisis to keep the system working.