The PJM Interconnection, the Midcontinent ISO, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the New York ISO and the Southwest Power Pool are taking steps to prepare for the arrival of Winter Storm Fern.
PJM
PJM on Jan. 22 said it has issued precautionary alerts ahead of the storm that is expected to hit two-thirds of the country and an extended period of frigid weather expected for the region PJM serves, spanning 13 states and the District of Columbia.
Between Jan. 23 and 27, and possibly extending through Jan. 30, temperatures are expected to reach single digits throughout the RTO and potentially below zero in PJM’s Western Region.
Peak demand has the potential to exceed 130,000 MW for seven straight days next week, a winter streak that PJM has never experienced.
Depending on temperatures, PJM could set a new all-time winter peak load on Tuesday, January 27. And that cold could extend into early February, so PJM is taking additional precautions with its generation and transmission owners to prepare.
“This is a formidable arctic cold front coming our way, and it will impact our neighboring systems as much as it affects PJM,” said Mike Bryson, Sr. Vice President – Operations. “We will be relying on our generation fleet to perform as well as they did during last year’s record winter peak.”
Cold Weather Alerts and Advisories Issued
PJM has issued a Cold Weather Alert for its Western Region for Jan. 23, with the alert expanding to encompass the entire region PJM serves for Jan. 24–27.
A Cold Weather Alert is a routine procedure PJM issues in advance of significantly cold weather conditions expected for all or parts of the region PJM serves.
When issued, PJM communicates with generation owners to tell them to be prepared to call in additional staff to get all units running for when electricity use begins to increase. Generation owners must take extra care to maintain equipment so that it does not freeze in the cold and are reminded to provide updated information to PJM on limitations to their units, including time required to start and the max and min times that their units can run once started.
A Cold Weather Alert can also be used to defer or reschedule planned generation maintenance outages and/or transmission outages and/or recall transmission/generator outages, if necessary.
In addition, PJM has issued a Cold Weather Advisory for the PJM footprint for Jan. 24 through Jan. 30. When PJM expects significantly cold weather to impact all or parts of the PJM footprint, it issues a Cold Weather Advisory to provide a two-to-five-day notice that forecast temperatures may call for a Cold Weather Alert.
This is meant to give generation owners ample time to proactively prepare their units to operate during pending cold weather and to provide information to PJM about their operating availability, capabilities and limitations to help PJM operators plan for the extreme weather.
The Western Region in PJM is made up of the following transmission zones and control areas:
- AES Ohio – formerly Dayton Power & Light
- American Electric Power (AEP Ohio, Appalachian Power, Indiana Michigan Power and Kentucky Power)
- American Municipal Power Transmission
- ComEd
- Cleveland Public Power
- Duke Energy Ohio and Duke Energy Kentucky
- Duquesne Light Company
- East Kentucky Power Cooperative
- FirstEnergy South – formerly Allegheny Power Systems (West Penn Power, Mon Power, Potomac Edison)
- FirstEnergy West – formerly American Transmission Systems, Inc. (Penn Power, Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison)
- Ohio Valley Electric Corporation
Maintenance Outage Recall
Additionally, PJM issued a generator maintenance outage recall on Jan. 21, requesting for all maintenance outages to be returned to service by Jan. 24 in order to increase the amount of generation available to meet customer demand. The generator maintenance outage recall is expected to remain in place until further notice.
Forecast Peaks
As of Jan. 21, PJM is expecting to serve the following approximate peak loads for Friday, Jan. 23, through Friday, Jan. 30:
- Friday, Jan. 23: 125,900 MW
- Saturday, Jan. 24: 138,300 MW
- Sunday, Jan. 25: 131,500 MW
- Monday, Jan. 26: 138,300 MW
- Tuesday, Jan. 27: 147,300 MW
- Wednesday, Jan. 28: 140,200 MW
- Thursday, Jan. 29: 141,900 MW
- Friday, Jan 30: 146,000 MW
These numbers are official as of 1:30 p.m. Jan. 22. They are subject to change and will be updated daily.
Load forecasts can be viewed on the PJM Now application, PJM Data Viewer (72 hours) and PJM Data Miner (seven days).
PJM Winter Preparations
PJM expects to have 180,800 MW of winter operational capacity to serve its seasonal forecasted peak demand for this winter. This expectation is based on PJM and the PJM resources continuing to take operational steps to improve generator performance during extreme winter conditions.
To develop its winter scenario forecasts, PJM analyzes expected electricity demand, weather predictions and other factors. The National Weather Service predicts a slightly warmer winter for the Atlantic Seaboard, with typical temperatures – but above-average precipitation – in PJM’s midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.
PJM and stakeholders take a number of actions to prepare for cold weather, outlined in its Cold Weather Preparation Guideline and Checklist, contained in Manual 14D (PDF) Attachment N. These protocols incorporate lessons learned from past severe events, including Winter Storm Elliott (2022), Winter Storm Uri (2021) and Winter Storm Enzo (2025).
ERCOT Issues Weather Watch
ERCOT on Jan. 21 said it had issued a Weather Watch from January 24-27 due to forecasted below-freezing temperatures with the possibility of frozen precipitation, higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves. Grid conditions are expected to be normal during an ERCOT Weather Watch, it said.
ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas joined Governor Greg Abbott and state officials this week to discuss ongoing preparations for the cold weather moving across Texas over the weekend.
ERCOT is monitoring weather conditions closely and will deploy all available tools to manage the grid, continuing a reliability-first approach to operations. In anticipation of the extreme cold weather, ERCOT is coordinating preparation efforts with the Texas Energy Reliability Council, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, and other state agencies, as well as with Market Participants.
An ERCOT Weather Watch is an advance notification of forecasted significant weather with higher electrical demand and the potential for lower reserves.
At this time, grid conditions are expected to be normal, and there is no current expectation of an energy emergency.
MISO
“With winter weather forecasted to impact parts of the MISO region this weekend, stay up to date on the latest grid conditions by visiting our website,” MISO said.
“MISO works behind the scenes to keep power flowing across the region. Our team is prepared and will be working around the clock to monitor conditions and manage the grid as weather conditions evolve,” it said.
NYISO
Adequate generating capacity is in place to meet electricity demand under forecasted extreme winter conditions for the period of Saturday, January 24 through Thursday, January 29, according to the NYISO.
However, as stated in the NYISO’s 2025-2026 Winter Assessment, the NYISO will be carefully monitoring fuel security for generators due to the extreme cold temperatures expected to grip the eastern half of the country.
“Our assessment finds there are adequate resources to serve demand on the grid under forecasted conditions, but we’ve also seen generators in recent winters challenged with accessing adequate fuel capacity during very cold conditions,” said Aaron Markham, Vice President of Operations for the New York Independent System Operator. “We continue to work closely with power producers, utility companies, and neighboring grid operators to assess the status of generating and transmission capacity in advance of the cold snap.”
NYISO operators monitor regional fuel supplies and survey most generating stations to review preparations for the winter, including fuel switching capabilities, fuel procurement and cold-weather preventative maintenance. Additionally, there is close and ongoing coordination between the NYISO and government agencies, utilities, regulators, grid operators, and natural gas industry organizations.
As of Friday, January 23, the forecasted peak demand during the cold snap is as follows:
• Saturday, January 24: 23,230 megawatts
• Sunday, January 25: 23,090 megawatts
• Monday, January 26: 23,600 megawatts
• Tuesday, January 27: 24,180 megawatts
• Wednesday, January 28: 24,330 megawatts
• Thursday, January 29: 24,450 megawatts
According to NYISO’s 2025-2026 Winter Assessment, 29,893 megawatts (MW) of power resources are available to serve load across the state. That analysis also forecasted peak winter demand to reach 24,200 MW. If necessary, NYISO operators can dispatch up to an additional 2,159 MW through emergency operating procedures to maintain reliability during the cold snap.
The all-time record for winter peak demand was 25,738 MW on January 7, 2014.
NYISO operates the bulk electric system under the nation’s strictest reliability standards, it noted. System reliability requirements are established, maintained, and enforced by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the Northeast Power Coordinating Council, and the New York State Reliability Council.
SPP
On Jan. 23, SPP said it was issuing a Conservative Operations Advisory for the entire SPP Balancing Authority (BA) area, effective Saturday, January 24, at 12:00 a.m. CT until an anticipated end time of Monday, January 26, at 12:00 p.m. CT.
Conservative Operations Advisories are considered stable operating conditions and do not require the public to conserve energy or take any action.
They are issued by SPP, acting as the region's BA, to raise awareness among its member utilities, load-responsible entities, and transmission and generation owners and operators of the need to mitigate potential reliability risks by operating more conservatively than under normal conditions.
