Power grids on high alert as Arctic freeze coming for half the country

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Saturday 17 January 2026 15:08 EST


Grid operators overseeing power in 28 states are on high alert to shore up fuel supplies and brace for a spike in power demand as the Northeast and Midwest face an Arctic freeze this holiday weekend. The frigid outbreak, the first of several expected through early February, is forecast to bring temperatures 15F to 30F below normal, with repeated waves of Arctic air pushing deep into the central and eastern U.S.

Grid operators, PJM Interconnection LLC and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, issued alerts Friday urging utilities and power generation owners to prepare ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, when the cold is expected to intensify.

The Northeast is forecast to feel some of the harshest cold early next week, with temperatures dropping to near single digits in the Boston area and the mid‑teens in New York. Strong wind chills could make conditions feel even colder.

PJM manages the largest electricity grid in the country across 13 states and Washington, D.C., while MISO manages 15 states, covering a large region from Louisiana up into the Canadian province of Manitoba. In all, the grid operators cover about one‑third of the U.S. population.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/weather/weather-northeast-midwest-freeze-power-warnings-b2902518.html

[progree]

1. Minus 26 deg F windchill in Twin Cities on Monday at 7 AM, Minus 20 at noon. Then the big warmup

to +4 deg F windchill Wednesday noon.
Friday (23rd) noon: minus 20 deg F windchill at noon

Saturday & Sunday just as bad

[RazorbackExpat]

2. Brrrrrrrr

I haven't experienced cold like that in 40+ years

[Maninacan]

3. 1 degree

I got 1 degree southern wi. Still some temperature as I like to joke.

[LiberalArkie]

4. 18 this morning in Central Arkansas

[NNadir]

5. Don't worry. Be happy. Solar cells will save us. Oh wait...

...around here they're covered with snow.

Oh well.

[PCB66]

6. A cold front is moving into Central Florida now

The temperature has dropped about 20 degrees since we went to church earlier this morning.

Won't be as cold as the one last week where it got down below freezing but tonight will be a "hug your honey" night.

[Talitha]

7. Yeah, I read the forecast and got my grocery shopping done on Friday...

... when it was a balmy 26 degrees.
(Monday's high will be -7 and -13 at night.)

Up here in rural northern WI, most everyone has a wood burning unit and a generator to keep the basic necessities running in case the power goes out.

So if you don't see me for a few days, I'll be snuggled in front of the woodstove, reading by lantern light.

[Bayard]

8. Same here

If things get bad enough you can heat up soup on a wood stove. 8 degrees here on Tue. night in southern KY.

Definitely a three dog night.

[Katcat]

9. For me

That works out to how many cats? I have 11, is that enough?

[OldBaldy1701E]

10. Of course if they had put the proper finances into our power grid, these snaps shouldn't make much difference.

But, they have to have that twelfth yacht to sail to their private island, as well as something to give their cron... excuse me, shareholders.

We should no longer have a centralized power source at this stage. We have the means to have each dwelling creating its own power, and if we are not there yet, it is because the money in our society does not want us to get there. Plus, they keep us on a centralized system as a means of control.

'Progress' my fat, old ass. We could have been there two decades ago.