Winter Storm Fern: Coal helping power energy grid amid deadly storm

A deadly and historic winter storm affecting a 2,300-mile swath of the country with snow, ice and power outages has prompted moves to intensify. Energy production from coalWith it and other fossil fuels highlighted as reliable sources of energy amid extreme weather.

Winter Storm Fern caused life-threatening power outages in many parts of the South, while the Northeast was hit by heavy snow. Other areas faced ice and freezing temperatures.

The stormy weather knocked out power to more than 800,000 people in the south, as ice accumulations from freezing rain toppled trees and downed power lines. As of Monday afternoon, power failure Tracking website PowerOutage.us showed more than 229,000 outages in Tennessee, more than 152,000 in Mississippi, about 114,000 in Louisiana and more than 45,000 in Texas — while Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia saw between 15,000 and 36,000 outages.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued emergency orders to allow power operators in the Mid-Atlantic, New England and Texas power grid regions to operate power generation resources as needed to ensure grid stability regardless of environmental permits or state law.

Deadly historic winter storm: Ice causes power outages, threatening lives across the south, and snow buries the northeast of the country

“As Winter Storm Fern brings extremely cold and dangerous conditions across the country, maintaining affordable, reliable and safe energy is non-negotiable,” Wright said in his announcement.

Wright also issued an order to Texas grid operator ERCOT To leverage power from standby generators in data centers and other industrial sites to relieve pressure on the rest of the grid.

“The previous administration’s energy consumption policies weakened the grid, leaving Americans more vulnerable during events like Winter Storm Verne,” Wright said. “Thanks for president Trump “Our leadership, we are working to reverse those failures and using every tool available to keep the lights on and Americans safe during this storm.”

More than a million Americans are losing power as a monster winter storm sweeps across the United States

Coal has played a key role in powering the power grid during winter storms, when renewable sources such as wind and solar are less available. (Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Efforts have been made in recent decades to reduce dependence on Fossil fuels such as coal As well as clean natural gas in favor of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy. The severe winter storm demonstrated the important role coal and natural gas can play in supporting the power grid by providing stable baseload power when wind and solar sources are not generating enough power.

PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. power grid operator serving parts of the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions, was supplying power produced from gas (41%), nuclear (27%) and coal (24%) on Monday – while Renewable energy sources Such as wind and solar energy each saved less than 5%.

A massive winter storm is straining America’s power grid as operators scramble to avoid power outages

Winter Storm Fern disrupted thousands of flights across the country. (Charlie Tripalo/AFP via Getty Images)

A report published by the North American Electricity Reliability Foundation in November assessed the reliability of the electric grid ahead of the winter of 2025-2026 and noted that coal plays a key role in supporting the grid during winter storms.

“[Bulk power system] NERC wrote that stakeholders across North America have noted several fuel-related issues being monitored heading into the winter season.

“For example, while coal represents a diminishing share of the overall resource mix, it still plays an important role in meeting demand during extreme weather events, and oil reserves in dual-fuel gas and oil generators reduce risks associated with natural gas delivery capacity in areas with infrastructure constraints, especially during the winter.”

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She continued: “It is worth noting that it is not possible or expensive to store natural gas locally in power plants, and this exposes BPS to the risk profile of the underlying systems that include the timely supply and delivery of this fuel.”