CNN
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The NFL’s Tennessee Titans delayed their scheduled noon CT game by an hour due to power outages in the area, which have since ended, resulting from winter storm and brutal cold.
“Due to extreme weather conditions and power outages affecting our area, the start of today’s game has been delayed one hour to 1pm CT,” the Titans said in a statement.
“This decision was made in partnership with the NFL, Office of Emergency Management, Nashville Electrical Department and the Mayor’s Office with great care to ensure that the game will not have any negative impact on our community. We are exploring all possibilities to minimize non-essential electricity around the stadium.
The Titans (7-7), four-game losers, opened their game against the Houston Texans (1-12-1) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville at 1 p.m. CT. The temperature was 22 degrees at kickoff, making it the coldest game in Nissan Stadium history, according to the CBS broadcast.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, the federal electric utility company that supplies seven states in the region, had ordered local power companies to reduce their electric load for periods Friday and Saturday due to record demand linked to the conditions. weather and power generation issues.
Chief Operating Officer Don Moul said the agency “lost a generation” due to extreme cold and high winds, and the authority urged residents to save electricity. Still, TVA said on Saturday it had supplied more electricity in the past 24 hours than at any other time in its history.
The authority ended power outages at noon on Saturday after temperatures rose slightly and power system conditions improved, vat said.
“We recognize that these planned temporary disruptions are a challenge, but they were necessary to maintain network stability for 10 million people across seven states,” the authority said. “Thank you for doing your part, saving energy and helping us manage this extreme weather event.”
On Saturday morning, local power companies said they had been ordered to shut off power for short periods. CDE Lightband, a utility company in Clarksville, Tennessee, said VAT said so to turn off the power every 15 minutes.
similar, the Nashville Electrical Service told customers on Saturday morning to expect “intermittent, rotating power outages” in increments of about 10 minutes every hour and a half to two hours.
Amid the blackouts, Nashville Mayor John Cooper had He urged the Titans to postpone their game, saying that “all non-essential businesses should reduce their energy consumption”. He posted a follow-up tweet saying he enjoyed the decision to delay the game for an hour.
In general, prolonged cold snaps can overwhelm the power grid by simultaneously cutting off power and causing a surge in demand as residents turn up the heat. For example, in Texas in February 2021a winter storm and long cold spell caused massive outages in areas served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, leaving millions of residents cold and dark for nearly a week.
The TVA informed residents on Friday that there would be power outages due to the winter storm, although that directive was later rescinded.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland told CNN on Friday that hospitals and doctor’s offices were exempt. The TVA had not anticipated the magnitude of the situation before the storm hit, he said.
It’s a real fight. It never happened in my lifetime, it hasn’t happened in Memphis for at least 50 years,” Strickland said Friday.
On Saturday morning, he said power outages across Memphis affected more than 50,000 people for about 30 to 60 minutes at a time, likely two to three times a day.
TVA has always prided itself on its reliability. This is the first time that TVA has demanded continued blackouts,” Strickland told CNN. “We’re going to have to dig deeper into why this happened.”
Strickland said temperatures are not expected to exceed 32 degrees Fahrenheit for at least the next two days.
Blackouts and blackouts affected much of the United States, especially the Southeast.
As of 11 a.m. ET Saturday, Tennessee had about 250,000 customers without power and North Carolina had more than 380,000 customers without power, according to the PowerOutage.US website. In Davidson County, Tennessee, which includes Nashville, more than 60% of customers were without power. the site says.
Duke Energy, the power company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, announced “emergency outages” on Saturday morning as extremely cold temperatures drive unusually high energy demand in the Carolinas.
We started short and temporary power cuts. These emergency outages are necessary to protect the power grid against longer and more extensive outages. We appreciate your patience.” energy supplier said in a tweet.
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