Roughly 185 million Americans remain under winter alerts today as Arctic air continues to pour deep into the central and eastern states. Wind chills are dropping into the minus 20s and minus 30s in some areas, with temperatures running 10 to 40 degrees below seasonal averages.

This prolonged cold - expected through the week - will continue to pressure major natural gas production hubs with freeze-offs, send pipeline volumes sliding, and push already-strained power grids to the brink.

The latest on grids: 

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas projected a record demand of 86 GW on Monday, above its prior summer peak.

PJM Interconnection warned it faces days of extreme winter demand, an unprecedented stretch for the grid spanning the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic.

Grid operators are paying large customers to curb usage to avoid widespread rolling blackouts.

Power prices spiked to crisis levels, with PJM on peak prices averaging about $639 per MWh and ERCOT North hub prices jumping more than 1,200% day over day.