  After the onset of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, a number of studies reported
on possible changes in electricity consumption trends. The overall theme of
these reports was that ``electricity use has decreased during the pandemic, but
the power grid is still reliable''---mostly due to reduced economic activity.
In this paper we analyze electricity data upto end of May 2020, examining both
electricity demand and variables that can indicate stress on the power grid,
such as peak demand and demand ramp-rate. We limit this study to three states
in the USA: New York, California, and Florida. The results indicate that the
effect of the pandemic on electricity demand is not a simple reduction from
comparable time frames, and there are noticeable differences among regions. The
variables that can indicate stress on the grid also conveyed mixed messages:
some indicate an increase in stress, some indicate a decrease, and some do not
indicate any clear difference. A positive message is that some of the changes
that were observed around the time stay-at-home orders were issued appeared to
revert back by May 2020. A key challenge in ascribing any observed change to
the pandemic is correcting for weather. We provide a weather-correction method,
apply it to a small city-wide area, and discuss the implications of the
estimated changes in demand. The weather correction exercise underscored that
weather-correction is as challenging as it is important.
