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A massive winter storm has knocked out power to more than one million Americans as Arctic temperatures sweep across the country, putting unprecedented strain on the nation's electrical grid.
As of Sunday evening, approximately 899,000 customers remained without electricity according to PowerOutage.US, with Tennessee hit hardest at over 308,000 outages. Mississippi reported 149,000 customers without power, Louisiana 138,000, Georgia 103,000, and Texas 80,000, with additional outages across Kentucky, West Virginia, and South Carolina.
The primary cause of the widespread outages is ice accumulation on trees and power lines. Nashville Electric Service reported that freezing rain and ice caused trees to snap under the weight, bringing down power lines. The utility identified 67 broken power poles across its territory requiring repair, with nearly 300 lineworkers scheduled for 14-16 hour shifts.
"The ice is the big concern this week and that's scary," said Allison Clements, a former commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. "When these types of things happen, you can't control the ice. You can't control the tree branch break," she told Politico.
The Energy Department has taken emergency measures to prevent further blackouts. Energy Secretary Chris Wright granted PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest electric grid operator, permission to run all power sources at maximum capacity regardless of pollution regulations through January 31. A similar emergency order was issued for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas .
PJM is facing unprecedented demand, expecting to exceed 130,000 megawatts for seven consecutive days—something that has never happened before. The grid operator could set a new all-time winter peak load on Tuesday, with extreme cold conditions potentially persisting through February 1.
"This is a formidable arctic cold front coming our way, and it will impact our neighboring systems as much as it affects PJM," said Mike Bryson Sr., Vice President of Operations at PJM. "We will be relying on our generation fleet to perform as well as they did during last year's record winter peak."
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which manages the grid from the Dakotas to Louisiana, briefly issued an Energy Emergency Alert 2 on Saturday due to increased power usage and unplanned generator outages. The alert has since been downgraded, but MISO remains under a Maximum Generation Warning.
Utilities have mobilized massive response efforts. The Edison Electric Institute reported that companies have deployed 63,000 workers from 43 states and the District of Columbia to areas affected by the storm—comparable to the response following Hurricane Helene in 2024.
The extreme weather comes as the power grid already faces rising demand from data centers, artificial intelligence facilities, and other large customers. Natural gas prices surged more than 80 percent in the three days before the storm, according to consulting firm Wood Mackenzie—the largest increase in history.
AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham described the mix of sleet, snow, ice, and frigid temperatures as a "deadly combination" affecting approximately 200 million people across the country. Freezing conditions are expected to remain in place through February 1 in many areas.
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