Cold weather prompts school delays, energy conservation plea

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — The coldest air of the winter is prompting some North Carolina school system to delay the start of classes and leading an energy provider to ask its customers to reduce their electricity use.

Approximately a dozen school systems from the mountains to the coast are delaying starting times on Thursday to protect students from frigid early-morning temperatures that will combine with wind chills to dip into the single-digits.

Duke Energy is asking its customers in North Carolina and South Carolina to reduce electricity usage during the next 24 hours to help avoid potentially high energy demand.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill advisory for most of the state for Thursday morning.

Forecasters say temperatures would be dropping steadily for the rest of Wednesday and early Thursday morning.

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