Widespread outages across several states on the East Coast left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity as power lines and poles succumbed to wind, snow and falling trees and branches. But the transmission lines and power plants that serve as the backbone of electric grids were holding up.
About 650,000 electricity customers had lost power along the East Coast as blizzard conditions intensified and snow began to accumulate. Massachusetts had the most outages of any state, with nearly 300,000 customers without power at a little after noon, according to Poweroutage.us, a site that tracks electrical problems.
Most of the outages appeared to have been caused by local problems like fallen poles and lines rather than the kinds of systemic failures that left millions of Texans shivering in the dark during a winter storm five years ago.
ISO New England — which operates the electric grid in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont — reported normal conditions across its system. Other grid operators, including the PJM Interconnection, which manages the system that includes New Jersey, also reported normal conditions.
But like Massachusetts, New Jersey experienced a growing number of outages as wind conditions made the winter weather worse, leaving more than 125,000 utility customers without electricity, Poweroutage.us reported.
Weather conditions are expected to continue to deteriorate, causing more outages throughout the region. Power lines and poles could experience extensive damage as wet snow accumulates on them and strong winds weaken them. But grid managers expected to maintain an ample supply of energy.
“The regional grid remains in normal operating conditions and we have plenty of supply,” said Matt Kakley, a spokesman for ISO New England. “The outages are on the distribution system.”
A potent mix of high winds and heavy, wet snow produced widespread power outages in coastal Massachusetts, where 285,000 customers were without power by midday. Customers were bracing for long waits for electricity to be restored, as the storm continued to rage with wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour and treacherous road conditions.
“Restoration could take three to five days,” Eversource, a utility company in Massachusetts and neighboring states, warned its customers in automated text messages on Monday. “Difficult travel will delay our ability to safely respond.”
Outages were especially widespread on Cape Cod and in southeastern Massachusetts, where some of the most intense winds were reported. About 80 percent of customers lost power in Plymouth, south of Boston, while in Barnstable, on Cape Cod, 66 percent were without power by noon, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
The prospect of delays in power restoration raised concerns about residents who did not have generators, home batteries or backup heating systems, with overnight low temperatures in the teens predicted in the days ahead. The town of Plymouth announced it would open an emergency shelter at a high school for people who had no heat.
Ivan Penn is a reporter based in Los Angeles and covers the energy industry. His work has included reporting on clean energy, failures in the electric grid and the economics of utility services.
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