Rapid Readout: Frozen Infrastructure

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a Rapid Readout on energy resilience and recovery after Winter Storm Fern in late January. Many on the East Coast and in the South took weeks to dig out from this storm. Homes and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee were without electricity for more than a week, leaving residents in life-threatening situations. Building on lessons from past devastating winter storms, such as Winter Storm Uri that impacted Texas in February 2021, this Rapid Readout examined Fern's impacts on power grids and potential resilient solutions to help residents weather future storms.

Highlights

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Extreme cold affects power generation operations, including cooling systems, fire suppression systems, and control systems. Ice accumulation on transmission lines can lead to power outages. Winter storms can cause significant disruption to natural gas distribution and supplies and compromise physical access to transmission lines, making restoring power after winter storms more difficult. Winter Storm Uri’s impact on the power grid triggered one of the largest load-shedding events in the history of Texas, with peak power loss exceeding 61 GW. This resulted in rolling power outages and higher electricity prices as power stations struggled to serve customers. Winter Storm Fern in January 2026 did not have as large an impact on power outages or electricity prices. Preliminary assessments estimate 170 deaths attributable to Winter Storm Fern, which would make it the second-deadliest winter storm in U.S. history. The economic impact of Winter Storm Fern will be in the billions of dollars, but far below Winter Storm Uri’s cost of about $100 billion. After Winter Storm Uri, Texas implemented mandatory weatherization standards for electricity and gas generation and transmission infrastructure. Large-scale battery storage was added at the transmission level to improve resilience and gas storage was built in key locations to keep supply available and prices stable during winter storms. These steps positioned Texas to withstand the impacts of Winter Storm Fern.  Utilities need a large workforce and technical support to restore electric service as quickly as possible after a storm. Distributed energy resources can support critical infrastructure (e.g., water plants and hospitals) and communities during extreme weather events. Strategies are needed to enable utilities and communities to collaborate and strengthen the grid's resilience.