Weekend’s cold weather could bring long power outages

Extremely cold weather can complicate things when it comes to the electricity flowing into your home. Officials say when it gets too cold, the power system operates slower than it normally would. With this weekends temperatures dipping below freezing, officials say Delmarva could see a disruption in their service. 

“There’s always a chance that really cold temperatures can cause outages,” said Jeremy Tucker, communications manager for Delaware Electric Cooperative. 

Tucker says the real issue for them is getting the power back on if it goes out. 

“The real problem comes say we have a car accident or powers knocked out, because so many people are using so much electricity it’s really hard for our lineman to reenergize the lines and in the past, in some cases, that’s led to outages that last for several hours,” Tucker said. 

Because of that, power companies are asking for people to use power sparingly. 

The Department of Energy recommends you set your thermostat at 68 degrees when you’re home during the winter and few degrees below that when you’re not home. 

In order to help save power, Delaware Cooperative is running two beat the peak days where they ask people to conserve power as much as possible. 

Those times are Sunday from 7 AM to 9 AM and Monday from 6 am to 7 am. 

Officials say in order to save power, and stay warm, they recommend making sure all windows are tightly sealed. If you’re in an older home, plastic wrap can be put over windows to help keep heat from escaping the home.