Puget Sound Energy asking customers to conserve natural gas, electricity during cold snap

Below freezing temperatures continue in Washington; thousands without power

Thousands remained without power on Sunday as below freezing temperatures linger in Western Washington.

SEATTLE - The 14th largest natural gas storage facility in the United States went offline earlier today in the middle of a cold snap hitting the Pacific Northwest, causing a flurry of messages to customers urging them to reduce natural gas usage.

The Jackson Prairie Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility, co-owned by Pugest Sound Energy, is located in Lewis County. According to PSE, the facility went offline around 2 p.m. on Saturday but has been slowly coming online ever since.

A number of local entities have warned people to conserve usage for the next 24 hours, including the City of Ellensburg.

"Natural gas customers should set their thermostats at a lower setting and limit the use of other natural gas appliances," an urgent action request read from the Ellensburg’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

By Sunday, the city of Ellensburg said that the request to conserve had been lifted.

PSE asks customers to continue conserving

Similarly, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) on Saturday requested its customers reduce use of both natural gas and electricity.

A spokesperson told FOX 13 that the extreme cold facing the region has utilities experiencing higher energy use than forecast.

"We need to reduce the strain on the grid," they said.

PSE on Sunday again asked customers to continue conserving natural gas and power as a cold snap continues in the Pacific Northwest.

You can find home energy saving tips here.

Under 10,000 people were without power in Washington state as of Sunday. However, a majority of those outages were due to storms to closer to the Oregon border.

The FOX 13 Weather team declared Sunday as a "Weather Alert Day" as frozen temperatures grip Western Washington due to winds and bitter wind chills.