Millions of households in Texas are suffering rolling blackouts for the first time in a decade as an unprecedented Arctic freeze sends temperatures plummeting across much of the U.S., roiling energy markets. Large swaths of Dallas, Houston and other cities are being plunged into darkness for an hour at a time -- and in some cases longer -- as surging demand for heat pushes the power grid to the brink. The situation is poised to become more dire as temperatures are forecast to fall even lower later tonight, when demand will surge too. “Every grid operator and every electric company is fighting to restore power right now,” said Bill Magness, head of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which runs the state’s grid. The average spot price for power across the Texas grid hit the state’s $9,000 per megawatt-hour price cap shortly after 9:30 a.m. local time. The extreme cold that’s crippling Texas’s power market is part of a larger weather pattern gripping much of the U.S. Winter storm warnings, advisories and watches stretch from New Mexico to Maine. In the past week, about 800 daily records for cold temperatures have been set in the U.S. as arctic air pushes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Accuweather called it one of the busiest winter-weather patterns in decades.​ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake