PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — While the Philadelphia region was spared from heavy snow, the frigid temperatures over the holiday weekend put some strain on local power operations.
The cold weather came in fast, as did the high demand for electricity from customers, creating a perfect storm of issues.
PJM Interconnection, which coordinates the movement of electricity throughout 13 states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, had asked people to conserve energy by reducing usage through Christmas morning.
“There were a lot of power plants that were tripping offline or unable to operate properly, and there were supply chain issues and supplies of gas that were a problem,” said PJM spokesperson Susan Buehler.
She said it’s unusual for something like this to happen, as PJM’s highest demand is usually in the summer months. In fact, she said the last time something happened like this was in January 2014.
Some homes in the region experienced mild power outages or light flickers due to impacts from the storm, like fallen tree limbs or other damage to power lines. But overall, Buehler said energy conservation efforts prevented a bigger power grid problem.
“We did notice the difference,” she said. “The loads flattened out a bit and it made it easier for us to operate the grid. … People stepped up and we didn’t have to do any other measures along the system.”
PECO, one of PJM’s members, said 148,000 of customers in the greater Philadelphia area lost power due to storm damage, but nearly all had power restored within 24 hours.
PJM does not expect other issues like this to happen for the rest of the winter.