Deep Freeze in U.S. Creates Heating Squeeze for Homeowners and Utilities<br />The South Carolina Electric & Gas Company appealed to customers to scale back their energy use as a precautionary<br />measure “as extreme cold temperatures in the area put a strain on the company’s electricity system.”<br />For utilities, the shale-drilling boom of recent years made natural gas a primary<br />fuel for generating electricity, as prices dropped and supplies grew.<br />ISO New England said coal and oil had helped generate nearly 35 percent of the power provided<br />by generators in the region as of Wednesday, with natural gas generating 24 percent.<br />Homeowners, businesses and utilities across much of the United States were keeping a close watch on fuel<br />supplies Wednesday as a record-setting cold snap caused demand for heating oil and natural gas to soar.<br />“Because natural gas prices are rising, coal and oil are reaching in to take its place.”<br />PJM Interconnection, which oversees the Mid-Atlantic grid, estimated<br />that demand for electricity would reach 135,787 megawatts on Wednesday, nearing its record winter load of 143,129 megawatts, which was recorded in February 2015<br />In the past, natural gas has typically accounted for nearly half of the area’s electricity, followed by nuclear power, hydroelectric<br />and other renewables; coal and oil together were responsible for less than 3 percent.
