NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Thousands across the Tennessee Valley experienced rolling blackouts on Christmas Eve as the power grid struggled to keep up with the demand for heat amid dangerously cold temperatures.
The Christmas week winter storm intensified into a deadly bomb cyclone Friday and plunged temperatures from New England to the Southeast.
Nashville fell to 1 below zero on Friday, the first time Music City dropped below zero since 1996, according to the National Weather Service Nashville.
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Temperatures began in the single digits on Christmas Eve in places like Nashville, Crossville, Livingston and Clarksville, with highs forecast in the teens to low-20s.
While temperatures climbed into the teens on Christmas Eve, it was not enough to relieve the demand for heat across the Tennessee Valley.
Due to the cold, the Tennessee Valley Authority directed local power companies to enact rolling blackouts to reduce the load on the power grid.
Customers experienced rolling outages of about 10 minutes every hour to two hours during the service disruption.
Amid the rolling blackouts, nearly 250,000 were without power in Tennessee on Christmas Eve morning. Those numbers have since dropped to nearly 100,000.
Across the U.S., nearly 1.6 million were without power Saturday morning.
The Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texas game was scheduled to begin at noon. However, at a request from Mayor John Cooper Nash, the NFL opted to delay the kick-off to 1:02 p.m. CT.
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Authority officials tweeted that the rolling blackouts ended around 11 a.m. CT.
“We recognize that these planned temporary disruptions are a challenge, but it was needed to maintain grid stability for 10 million people across seven states,” The Tennessee Valley Authority tweeted.
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The Nashville Electric Service said rotating power outages stopped Saturday. Still, non-essential businesses and residents were asked to reduce power usage in Nashville and Davidson County to help with the demand.
With a warm-up on the way next week, the cold is forecast to continue through Christmas weekend.
Subfreezing temperatures have reached as far south as the Gulf Coast as Freeze Warnings blanket the southern part of the country. Some locations as far south as central Florida are even feeling their coldest wintertime temperatures in several years.
The Christmas week storm also proved deadly, with as many as 16 deaths reported due to the combination of dangerous driving conditions and frigid temperatures.