When power is restored after an extended outage, a surge in demand — known as cold load pickup — can occur as appliances and equipment all restart simultaneously. In these cases, we must bring customers back online very carefully to avoid damage to the grid and an extended restoration time to all customers who may be experiencing an outage. We prepare for cold load pickup by adjusting protective relay device settings in advance. And our teams monitor those settings and equipment throughout cold weather restorations to safeguard the grid. If an outage occurs, customers can help by turning off or unplugging electric appliances to reduce the surge when power is restored, helping ensure smoother restoration for all. For more on power restoration in extreme cold: http://enter.gy/6184h8jzr