About 5,482 Baltimore Gas and Electric customers are without power Sunday morning after an Arctic cold front blasted the Baltimore area Friday.
Power outages are scattered throughout Baltimore City and the surrounding counties, according to BGE. The number of customers still affected is a fraction compared to late Friday evening.
PJM Interconnection, the electric grid operator BGE belongs to, has advised customers to conserve electricity because the grid and power plants are being strained by the cold. Customers are advised to reduce their electricity use between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. by setting thermostats lower than usual, postponing using of major electric appliances such as stoves, dishwashers and clothes dryers and turning off non-essential electric lights, equipment and appliances.
Baltimore has opened five warming centers to help people with power outages following the cold front.
Baltimore County has two freezing weather shelters open through Dec. 29. The two shelters, open 24 hours, are at the Eastern Family Resource Center in Rosedale and the Woodlawn Community Health Center.
Wind speeds of up to 50 mph and gusts as high as 40 mph plummeted the Baltimore area Friday. The wind toppled trash bins and sent debris flying through neighborhoods.
As strong winds gusted through Baltimore City Friday afternoon, a tree in the neighborhood of Charles Village came crashing down, blocking 32nd Street near Johns Hopkins University. The hood of a white SUV crumpled underneath the weight of the tree, which damaged multiple cars and broke windows of an apartment building across the street.
Unseasonably cold temperatures were brought by the cold front as a warmer rainstorm moved out, according to the National Weather Service.
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