Winter Storm Fern Challenging U.S. Power Grids

As Winter Storm Fern swept across the United States this past weekend, power grid operators in in New England, Texas and the Mid-Atlantic braced for intensified winter electricity demand. In anticipation of the storm and heightened demand, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., ISO New England, and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (to name a few) filed Request for Emergency Order Under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act applications with the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to get authorization for their generating units to operate at maximum capacity, “notwithstanding air quality or other permit limitations arising under federal, state, or local law or regulation, or other applicable source of law.” The DOE granted these applications, and the orders can be found here: https://www.energy.gov/ceser/2026-doe-202c-orders

Despite the national grid remaining largely stable, thousands of customers from Texas to Virginia experienced outages as of Monday morning – these numbers are tracked by PowerOutage.us. PJM anticipated peak demand of 147,000 MW, and projected peak demands for several consecutive days which would present “stress conditions, including a potential new winter peak in the PJM region.” DOE’s waiver for PJM extends through January 31.

This weekend’s actions reflect a broader trend: extreme weather events are pushing the limits of U.S. power systems more frequently. While grid operators have so far navigated Winter Storm Fern without major system‑wide failures, these reoccurring major stress events highlight the importance of energy reliability.