Duke Energy initiates rolling blackouts amid below freezing temperatures

Most of these temporary outages should be restored within 15-30 minutes, according to Duke. But many in the Charlotte area are reporting outages spanning two to three hours.

Driving the news: As of 8:45am, more than 100,000 customers in Mecklenburg County were without power, after temperatures fell into single digits overnight.

• By 10:30am, 78,660 customers were without power.
• By 11:20am, the number was down to about 75,000.

Why it matters: More than 450,000 outages are reported across North Carolina. That’s more than any other state in the U.S., according to poweroutage.us.

• Other outages are still being caused by downed tree limbs and other factors, and those could last longer.

What they’re saying: A Duke Energy spokesperson told Axios that when demand for electricity across the region exceeds the supply available, “Duke Energy must act quickly to avoid damage to the grid and help protect against widespread, longer-duration power outages.” The temporary outages across the Carolinas should last “no more than 60 minutes, but these times will vary.”