Crews from public power utilities were hard at work over the weekend restoring power to customers in the wake of Winter Storm Fern.
Poweroutage.US reported that just over 899,000 customers in the U.S. were without power as of Sunday evening.
In Texas, public power utility CPS Energy reported on the morning of Jan. 25 that its crews continued to work across its service area to resolve weather-related outages.
“One of the primary causes reported by our crews has been ice-covered tree limbs falling onto power lines. We appreciate our community’s continued support as crews work safely in severe winter weather conditions to resolve the remaining 42 weather-related outages impacting approx. 5,600 customers,” it said in an X post.
“Overnight, Austin Energy crews responded to isolated outages related to the winter storm, working through icy road conditions and frozen equipment to assess damage and restore power,” the Texas public power utility said on Jan. 25. “While impacts have been limited so far, ice remains on trees and power lines this morning, and outages are still possible as conditions change throughout the day.”
“Winter Storm Fern continues to impact the Valley with a mix of rain, sleet, freezing rain, and snow,” the Tennessee Valley Authority reported on Jan. 25.
“Overnight icing caused some power interruptions on both TVA transmission lines and local power company distribution systems, primarily in North Mississippi, North Alabama, Kentucky, southern Middle Tennessee, and parts of East Tennessee.”
TVA and local power company crews are working to restore service safely where outages have occurred, it said.
In Tennessee, Nashville Electric Service on Jan. 25 reported that the combination of freezing rain and ice impacted the NES service territory overnight, with trees being weighed down by ice causing them to snap and take down power lines.
In a late afternoon update on Jan. 25, it said that more than 217,000 NES customers were without power. "We have identified 67 broken power poles across our territory which will need to be reset and repaired. Our lineworkers continue to work around the clock on 14-16 hour shifts. Beginning tomorrow morning, we will have close to 300 lineworkers in the field, all focused on getting power back on for all customers."
DOE Emergency Orders
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Jan. 24 issued an emergency order for the deployment of backup generation resources in order to mitigate blackouts in Texas during Winter Storm Fern.
Issued pursuant to Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, the order authorizes the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities.
The action follows a letter Secretary of Energy Chris Wright sent Thursday to grid operators asking them to be prepared to use backup generation if needed to mitigate the risk of blackouts during the storm.
DOE estimates more than 35 GW of unused backup generation remains available nationwide.
The order will help ERCOT with the extreme temperatures and storm destruction across Texas and reduce costs for Americans during the winter storm, DOE said.
The order is in effect from January 24-January 27, 2026.
Wright on January 24 also issued an emergency order to PJM Interconnection. The order was issued subsequent to PJM’s application.
The order allows PJM to run all electric generating units located within the PJM Region and to operate up to their maximum generation output levels, notwithstanding air quality or other permit limitations or fuel shortages during the pendency of the emergency.
This order is in effect beginning on January 25, 2026 and continues until January 31, 2026.
Midwest ISO
On Saturday, Jan. 24, the Midcontinent ISO said that due to significant winter weather, MISO has issued an Energy Emergency Alert 2 (EEA2) for its North and Central regions.
EEA2 is triggered when MISO is facing an energy shortage and needs to increase generation available to meet demand. At this time, MISO does not have a need for public conservation, it said.
The extreme cold is causing power usage to increase, and we are also seeing unplanned generator outages.
By declaring EEA2, MISO operators can access emergency generation not available under normal conditions. Our operators may also purchase emergency generation from neighboring grids if available.
The EEA 2 declaration was scheduled to last until 11 a.m. E.S.T.
MISO subsequently ended its EEA2. “Extreme weather will continue over the next few days, and MISO and our members continue to monitor conditions very closely. MISO is currently in a Maximum Generation Warning, which is a notification to prepare for a 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 emergency situation.”
ISO New England
ISO New England on the morning of Jan. 25 issued a precautionary alert as cold winter weather was forecasted across the region. This is not a system emergency.
Known as an Abnormal Conditions Alert (M/LCC2), this alert is used primarily to create awareness of potential system operating issues for power system personnel and wholesale electricity market participants. It is not a request for public conservation.
ISO New England said it continues to monitor system conditions and will provide further updates, as needed, in this space.
PJM
At 5 pm on Jan. 25, PJM Interconection said that it issued precautionary alerts and continues to operate through the wide arctic system that is bringing extreme cold temperatures, ice and snow through next weekend to 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 below zero in PJM’s Western Region. Peak demand has the potential to exceed 130,000 MW for seven straight days, a winter streak that PJM has never experienced.
Depending on temperatures, PJM could set a new all-time winter peak load on Tuesday, Jan. 27. The extreme cold is currently expected to continue through Sunday, Feb. 1, 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.”
Pre-Emergency Demand Response Called in BGE, DOM, PEPCO
Also as a precautionary measure, PJM activated Demand Response customers in parts of the Mid-Atlantic Sunday (Jan. 25). PJM called on Pre-Emergency Demand Response for BGE, Dominion and Pepco areas for Sunday afternoon/evening to address localized transmission constraints and to preserve the run-time of generators that will be needed for colder weather and higher electricity demand later in the week.
Demand response or load management customers are paid to reduce their electricity consumption to ease load during critical periods.
Cold Weather Alerts Continue
A Cold Weather Alert is currently in effect for the entire region PJM serves has been extended through Feb. 1.
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.
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
Conservative Operations Declared for Jan. 24 through Feb. 1
PJM has also issued a Conservative Operations declaration for Jan. 24 through Feb. 1 for advance unit commitments.
There are any number of events that may require PJM to operate more conservatively. When PJM declares Conservative Operations, system operators have more flexibility to make decisions to maintain reliability. The declaration of Conservative Operations may include additional actions, including recalling/cancelling non-critical maintenance outages, reductions in transfers into, across or through the PJM RTO, increased reserves, and/or additional requests placed upon PJM member transmission owners and generation owners.
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.
Preliminary and Forecast Peaks
On Friday, Jan. 23, PJM served a preliminary hourly integrated peak of over 123,300 MW. On Saturday, Jan. 24, PJM served a preliminary hourly integrated peak of nearly 135,000 MW.
Preliminary hourly integrated peak data can be found by using PJM’s Data Miner tool.
As of Jan. 25, PJM is expecting to serve the following approximate peak loads for Saturday, Jan. 24, through Friday, Jan. 30:
• Sunday, Jan. 25: 131,100 MW
• Monday, Jan. 26: 137,800 MW
• Tuesday, Jan. 27: 147,200 MW
• Wednesday, Jan. 28: 145,600 MW
• Thursday, Jan. 29: 144,500 MW
• Friday, Jan 30: 145,900 MW
• Saturday, Jan. 31: 131,000 MW
• Sunday, Feb. 1: 126,000 MW
These numbers are official as of 1:15 p.m. on Jan. 25. They are subject to change and will be updated periodically.
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 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).
