"power company was taken by surprise by the energy demands " What could they have done on short notice other than rolling blackouts? It's not like they can pull a new power-plant out of their back-pocket on short notice. Importing power may also be a non-starter when the storm covers such a vast area. I imagine blackouts will be fairly typical in many of the areas/states hit by this storm.
Here in Houston, Texas the only problem is the cold, no snow or ice. The power company has a number of "spare" gas-fired powerplants around the city that come on line during the summer when it gets hot and everyone turns on their AC units. They are designed to be fired up and running within an hour once a certain energy demand threshold is met. For some reason no one thought to have these stations manned during this cold snap.
The power has been going on and off all morning, usually off for 1 hour then on for 5 minutes.
-Blast
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