IT IS COLD OUTSIDE! Wind chill factors are bringing temperatures to near zero Thursday morning across much of central North Carolina. In the windy western mountains, it feels as low as 15 degrees below zero. Wind chill readings are in the single digits even along the southeast coast.
Many school systems to the west decided to delay for two hours Thursday morning to wait for temperatures to warm up a little before making children stand outside for their buses. Schools also hope to avoid overtaxing their heating systems.
Duke Energy is asking customers to reduce electricity usage to help avoid high energy demand caused by the extreme cold. The Charlotte-based utility says the most critical time to reduce usage today is between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Vice President of Transmission System Operations Nelson Peeler says if it becomes necessary, Duke Energy will institute rotating or sustained outages across its grid. But the company says it has several plans in place to deal with the demand, including running all available units and buying power from other utilities.
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