CNN –
The NFL’s Tennessee Titans delayed their scheduled noon game by an hour due to blackouts in the region stemming from the winter storm and brutal cold.
“Due to the extreme weather and power outages affecting our region, the start of today’s game has been delayed one hour to 1:00 p.m. CT,” the Titans said in a statement.
“This decision was made in collaboration with the NFL, the Office of Emergency Management, the Nashville Electric Utility and the Mayor’s Office out of an abundance of caution to ensure that the game would not negatively impact our community by no means. We are exploring all possibilities to minimize non-essential energy around the stadium.”
The Titans (7-7), losers of four straight games, open their game against the Houston Texans (1-12-1) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville at 1:00 PM 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 federally owned electric utility that powers seven states in the region, had ordered local power companies to reduce their electric load for periods Friday and Saturday because of record demand and generation problems. climate-related energy.
Chief Operating Officer Don Moul said the agency “lost some generation” due to the extreme cold and high winds, and the authority urged residents to conserve power. Still, TVA said Saturday it delivered more power in the past 24 hours than at any other time in its history.
The authority ended the midday outages Saturday after temperatures warmed slightly and power system conditions improved, TVA said.
“We recognize that these planned temporary outages are a challenge, but it was necessary to maintain grid stability for 10 million people in seven states,” the authority said. “Thank you for doing your part, conserving energy and helping us manage this extreme weather event.”
On Saturday morning, local power companies said they were ordered to cut power due to short outages. CDE Lightband, an electric company in Clarksville, Tenn., said TVA told it to cut power at 15-minute intervals.
Similarly, Nashville Electric told customers Saturday morning to expect “rotating and intermittent power outages” in increments of about 10 minutes every hour and a half to two hours.
Amid the blackouts, Nashville Mayor John Cooper had asked the Titans to postpone their game, saying “all non-essential businesses should reduce energy use.” He issued a follow-up tweet saying he appreciated the decision to delay the game by an hour.
Cooper said he has spoken with TVA and Tennessee congressional leaders about creating an overhaul of the state’s critical infrastructure.
“This review will also examine the communications disruptions that I discussed with TVA management. Yesterday, (Nashville Electric Service) received only 8 minutes notice from TVA that outages were being instituted. Nashvillians deserve better and TVA he agrees,” he said.
A TVA spokesman agreed, saying, “We will conduct a thorough review of our processes, procedures and preparations once we overcome this unprecedented event.”
In general, extended cold spells can overwhelm the power grid by simultaneously cutting power supplies and causing a sharp increase in demand as residents turn up the heat. For example, in Texas in February 2021, a winter storm and long cold spell caused massive outages in areas served by the Electric Reliability Board of Texas, leaving millions of residents in the cold and in the dark for nearly a week
TVA informed residents Friday that there would be outages due to the winter storm, though that directive was later rescinded.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland told CNN on Friday that hospitals and medical offices were exempt. TVA did not anticipate the extent of the situation before the storm, he said.
“This is a real struggle. This has never happened in my lifetime, this has not happened in Memphis in at least 50 years,” Strickland said Friday.
As of Saturday morning, he said the blackouts in Memphis affected more than 50,000 people for about 30 to 60 minutes at a time, probably two or three times a day.
“TVA has always prided itself on reliability. This is the first time TVA has required blackouts,” Strickland told CNN. “There will be a deeper dive into why this happened.”
Strickland said temperatures are not expected to rise above 32 degrees Fahrenheit for at least the next two days.
Outages and blackouts have affected much of the United States, especially the Southeast.
As of 11 a.m. ET Saturday, Tennessee has about 250,000 customers without power and North Carolina has more than 380,000 customers without power, according to the website PowerOutage.US. In Davidson County, Tenn., which includes Nashville, more than 60 percent of customers were without power, according to the site.
Duke Energy, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based electric power company, announced “emergency outages” Saturday morning as extremely cold temperatures drive unusually high power demand in the Carolinas.
“We have begun short, temporary power outages. These emergency outages are necessary to protect the energy grid against longer and more widespread outages. We appreciate your patience,” the energy provider said in a tweet.