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Russia Hits Record Power Load; Murmansk Outages Prompt Emergency Measures and Criminal Probe

Sustained Arctic cold has pushed demand higher, with more households relying on electric heating.

Overview

  • The System Operator reported a national peak of 171,943 MW on Jan. 22, exceeding the Dec. 2023 record by 554 MW.
  • Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev said consumption this heating season is up nearly 3%, roughly 4 GW higher than a year earlier.
  • Murmansk region declared heightened readiness after voltage drops and partial blackouts linked to ice accretion on transmission lines and storm conditions.
  • Regional investigators opened a negligence case over the outages in Murmansk and Severomorsk under Part 1 of Article 293 of Russia’s Criminal Code.
  • Local strains persisted elsewhere, with Buryatia setting a 1,281 MW regional record on Jan. 21 and over 17,000 customers in Alchevsk losing power during overload repairs.