Oklahoma escaped extreme damage including power outages from Winter Storm Fern who raced across the state and left behind up to 12 inches of snow as a calling card.
Residents were luckier than those in Texas and several other states where power outages affected more than 1,000,000 customers following the arrival of sleet, freezing rain and frigid temperatures.
As of Sunday mid-afternoon, Oklahoma Gas and Electric reported 99.99% of its customers had electrical power. Its website indicated only 31 customers had lost electricity.
Public Service Company reported the same success and its website showed only 8 customers were without electrical power, despite predictions southern Oklahoma would be hit with an ice storm that would result in outages. It just didn’t happen.
Roughly 245 million people across 40 states — stretching all the way from New Mexico and Texas to parts of New England and the South — are expected to be affected by what could potentially be a historic storm.
At least 24 states have issued emergency disaster declarations ahead of the winter storm: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Washington, D.C., has also declared a state of emergency.
The website, PowerOutage.com reported that 54% of the residents of Nashville, Tennessee were without power. At least 12% of the people who live in Mississippi had lost electrical power by Sunday afternoon. Less than 1% of consumers in Texas were without electricity.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Sunday issued an emergency order for the deployment of backup generation resources in order to mitigate blackouts in Texas during Winter Storm Fern. Issued pursuant to Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, the order authorizes the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities. The action follows a letter Secretary Wright sent Thursday to grid operators asking them to be prepared to use backup generation if needed to mitigate the risk of blackouts during the storm. DOE estimates more than 35 GW of unused backup generation remains available nationwide. The order will help ERCOT with the extreme temperatures and storm destruction across Texas and reduce costs for Americans during the winter storm.
“The Trump administration is committed to unleashing all available power generation needed to keep Americans safe during Winter Storm Fern,” said Energy Secretary Wright. “Unfortunately, the last administration had the nation on track to lose significant amounts of baseload power, but we are doing everything in our power to reverse those reckless decisions. The Trump administration will continue taking action to ensure that the 35 GW of untapped backup generation that exists across the country can be deployed as needed during Winter Storm Fern and in the future.”