SNOWFALLS ARE NOW JUST A THING OF THE PAST: Cold snap this winter could zap New England power grid: ISO boss.

If a polar vortex parks itself over New England this winter for too long, start chopping wood.

ISO New England CEO Gordon van Welie — a power player paid $2.3 million, according to tax filings — warned Thursday such a cold snap could knock out the grid.

“People need to be prepared,” he said during an ISO video briefing. “I’m not trying to cause undue alarm, but there are vulnerable supply issues.”

Topping that fear-factor list is the price and supply of natural gas — the region’s lifeline — with prices soaring in Europe and Asia. Warm weather forecast for next week and possibly the rest of December has eased that worry.

But van Welie stressed it’s a Texas-sized freezing across the region that worries him. Last February the power grid in the Lone Star state left millions without power in subzero temperatures and hundreds died.

“We rely on an energy supply chain that is quite fragile,” he said on New England. “What if the weather doesn’t stay fine?” The forecast for this winter is calling for mild temps.

He added the “last thing we need” is people trying to recharge their electric cars if the polar vortex extends down to Massachusetts as it has done in the past.

No doubt, the Washington Post is busy decoding the racist dog whistle in that last sentence.

(Classical reference in headline.)