Energy crisis in US deepens with nearly 5 million people in the dark

The energy crisis crippling Texas’s power system continued to spread, with nearly 5 million people across the US plunged into darkness as authorities fought to avoid a total collapse of the grid.

 

Homes and businesses from North Dakota to Texas are losing power in the middle of an unprecedented deep freeze that has broken daily temperature records in hundreds of places.

 

The blackouts are likely to continue throughout Tuesday with no firm end in sight as the cold weather is forecast to remain through Wednesday.

 

Officials have reported two people dead, likely from cold, according to the AP news agency. Medical centers are rushing to administer vaccines before they go bad. Flights are grounded.

 

More than a million barrels a day of oil and 10 billion cubic feet of gas production are shut while pipelines have declared force majeure and massive refineries have halted gasoline and diesel output.