At least 1.5 million people without power in U.S. due to winter storm

(The Center Square) - A major winter storm that is crossing the country has left at least 1.5 million Americans without power on Friday, according to a website that tracks power outages.

PowerOutage.us reported that most of the power outages were in the eastern part of the country with North Carolina (187,303), Virginia (145,767), Tennessee (143,640), Maine (114,537) and New York (104,375) having the most customers impacted as of 1 p.m. EST.

PowerOutage.us tracks and updates power outage data from utilities all over the U.S.

In Tennessee where temperatures were 9 degrees, the Memphis Light, Gas and Water utility announced the cold temperatures and high demand had created a "critical power supply situation."

The Tennessee Valley Authority ordered all local power companies to drop between 5% and 10% of their electric load to avoid major outages across its service area. That means customers were expected to experience rolling blackouts where customers could expect outages two times a day on average.