Winter Storm Fern

Like many of you, I’m certainly glad that Spring is right around the corner. The cold winter weather experienced during Winter Storm Fern, which occurred January 23rd through the 27th, impacted 35 states bringing very cold temperatures, snow and ice. In fact, 26 states reported over 6 inches of snow and severe ice accumulations in the south.

During Winter Storm Fern, your Cooperative was instructed to issue public appeals for members to conserve energy in the early daylight hours Saturday morning, January 24th. These conservation alerts are not local decisions made by your Cooperative. These alerts come from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the regional organization that oversees the electric grid in the Midwest which serves more than 45 million people. At this time, I would like to briefly explain what happened in the electric generation industry that caused MISO to issue these alerts, events and public appeals to conserve energy.

As Winter Storm Fern moved into the Midwest, temperatures plummeted and the demand for residential and commercial heating increased significantly, which resulted in a substantial increase in the demand for electricity. At the same time, as temperatures decreased Friday night to Saturday morning, wind generation declined sharply. To provide an example of how significant this decline was, MISO wind generation in the early daylight hours Friday morning was producing approximately 18 to 19 Giga Watts (GW) of energy; however, wind generation in the early daylight hours Saturday morning produced only 2 GW of energy, which is significantly less than MISO’s accredited (expected) winter peak generation of approximately 8 – 9 GW.

In addition to decreased wind generation availability, the demand for natural gas heating was extremely high, and some natural gas generation units did not run due to elevated natural gas prices. For example, the 2025 average spot price of natural gas at Henry Hub was $3.52 per dekatherm; however, during Winter Storm Fern, prices began around $12 per dekatherm and rose to exceed $130 per dekatherm.

Due to these combined conditions, MISO declared a Maximum Generation Event Step Alert 2C and required your Cooperative, and all others in the region, to issue public appeals to conserve energy. This also allowed MISO to take emergency measures, including importing generation capacity from other regions. The purpose of these public appeals is to reduce strain on the electric grid and help avoid more serious actions, including rolling blackouts. For our members who took extra measures to conserve energy once called upon, your efforts were greatly appreciated.

During the early daylight hours of January 24th, coal and natural gas units combined to provide approximately 80% of MISO’s generation capacity while wind and solar combined to only provide 3% of MISO’s generation. This is clear evidence of how important fossil fuel generation is to our energy security.

These issues are not just impacting our region. On Monday, February 2nd, Duke Energy, made a similar appeal to their customers in North and South Carolina due to the unseasonably cold temperatures blanketing the southeast causing additional strain on generation for that area.

For several years, your Cooperative has been informing members that the electric generation industry is becoming more vulnerable during peak demand conditions due to the transition in the electric generation industry to construct more renewable energy resources (solar and wind) and retiring thermal generation (primarily coal but natural gas as well). Renewable energy resources are intermittent resources which means their generation output is dependent upon the amount of wind blowing or sun shining at any specific moment in time. During the early morning hours of January 24th, these intermittent resources contributed very little generation capacity due to lack of wind and sun.

It is imperative that the generation industry, other stakeholders and consumers recognize the significance and importance of having sufficient generation capacity available to meet the peak demands of consumers. This means we must keep all generation, especially dispatchable thermal generation units, running now and into the foreseeable future. Renewables such as wind and solar are in your Cooperative’s generation portfolio and they are a part of our current generation mix. However, wind and solar are simply not able to provide energy and capacity when we as consumers demand energy and long-duration energy storage solutions are not available or financially feasible.

We truly appreciate your continued trust, patience, and support as we work every day to provide safe, reliable, and affordable power to the communities we serve. Your Cooperative is committed to thoughtful planning, smart community investments, and doing what’s right for our members, today and in the years ahead.

See you next month and as always, “We’ll keep the lights on for you.”