Freezing Weather and Snowstorms Could Cause Massive Power Outages and Soar Gas Prices
Freezing weather and snowstorms across the United States are expected to cause massive power outages and drive up demand to its highest levels of the winter, according to energy analysts and reliability coordinators. The increase in demand comes as supplies of gas could drop due to the freezing of oil and gas wells and pipes, known as “freeze-offs.”
Gas provides about 43% of the nation’s power generation and heats about 45% of the country’s homes, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The jump in demand, coupled with a drop in supply, could drive up prices next week.
Appalachia and Rockies production face freeze-off risks as temperatures drop into the single digits or below, analysts at energy consulting firm Gelber and Associates said. The U.S. produces about 105 billion cubic feet per day of gas, with about a third of that supply coming from the Appalachia region.
Past winters have seen significant losses in gas output due to freeze-offs, including the loss of around 16.5 billion cubic feet per day in January 2024 and 19.4 billion cubic feet per day in December 2022.
As heating demand picks up, total U.S. gas use, including exports, could reach 156.4 billion cubic feet per day on January 9, compared to the nation’s daily record of 168.4 billion cubic feet per day hit on January 16, 2024.
Some 250 million people will feel frigid air across 40 states in the next week, according to meteorologists at AccuWeather. Energy companies are preparing for the extreme weather, with U.S. energy company CenterPoint Energy putting its cold weather action plan in place for power and gas customers in several states.
The North American Electric Reliability Corp, the nation’s reliability coordinator, has urged everyone in the electricity supply chain to take steps now to ensure the highest levels of reliability, citing concerns about natural gas supply given the significant amount of production in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Extreme weather in February 2021 left millions in Texas without power, water, and heat for days and resulted in over 200 deaths as the state’s power grid scrambled to prevent the electric system from collapsing.
