Energy Pulse: How the US power system coped with the threat from Winter Storm Fern

Winter Storm Fern, which hit a vast region of North America from New Mexico to Ontario, challenged the electricity industry to show that lessons had been learned from Winter Storm Uri in 2021. That storm led to a loss of power for more than 5 million customers, most of them in Texas, resulting in hundreds of deaths. During Fern, about 1 million customers lost power. But despite the scale and severity of the storm, power markets across the US were for the most part able to maintain reliable operations. Thermal generation, which collapsed in Texas during Uri, held up well. At the peak of the storm gas-fired plants in the US Lower 48 were supplying 25% more power than a week earlier, while coal-fired plants were supplying 30% more. Wood Mackenzie’s Power Trading Analytics service is providing real-time visibility into the granular detail behind these national changes, and the implications for electricity pricing and profitability.