A vehicle equipped with a snow plow clears snow as Winter Storm Fern arrives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA on January 23, 2026. | Photo credit: REUTERS/Nick Oxford
The PJM Interconnection — the largest regional electric grid in the U.S. serving 67 million people in the East and Mid-Atlantic region — reported temporary spikes in wholesale electricity prices that rose above $3,000 per megawatt-hour Saturday morning, up from previous levels of less than $200 per MWh. PJM raised its forecast for Tuesday, predicting a record high for winter electricity demand of 147.2 gigawatts. That would beat the current record of 143.7 GW from January 2025. Spot wholesale electricity prices in the U.S. were volatile throughout Saturday, rising several times higher in New England and the Midwest, for example, than during normal winter conditions.
Spot prices on ISO New England, the six-state network, rose to nearly $600 per MWh, a sharp increase from Friday when prices were below $100 MWh for parts of the day. Meanwhile, older power plants, typically idled for most of the year, came online to take advantage of higher prices to meet higher-than-expected demand, said Georg Rute, CEO of grid software company Gridraven, and an expert on how weather affects power line capacity. “A 40-year-old gas turbine turns on because it sees these super high prices,” Rute told Reuters. He added that it was a sign of stress in the PJM system and elsewhere.
Snow falls across the Clara Luper National Sit-In Plaza as Winter Storm Fern arrives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, January 23, 2026. | Photo credit: REUTERS/Nick Oxford
Prices also rose in other regions as stormy weather and temperatures near 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius) boosted electricity demand and prompted some operators to halt natural gas production in key river basins, while network companies also faced restrictions on gas pipeline supplies.
Dominion Energy, whose Virginia operations include the largest collection of data centers in the world, said if the ice forecast holds, it has the potential to be one of the largest winter events to impact the utility’s operations.
As regional grid operators juggle limited fuel supplies, clogged transmission lines and wild weather, electric utilities are deploying crews to repair expected ice and snow damage on low-voltage distribution lines that power homes and businesses.
NETWORKS COME AGAINST TENSION
Faced with limited gas supplies, regional U.S. grid operators are asking coal- and gas-fired power plants to increase production, reports on grid operations show.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator called on power plants to maximize production and limit electricity exports in an area spanning 15 states in the Midwest and South and Manitoba, Canada.
Power import
According to MISO operational reports, MISO has imported thousands of megawatts of power from PJM territory in the past 24 hours to meet demand.
PJM faces greater reliability threats in winter, as natural gas plants – the backbone of its generation – often experience fuel supply limitations and mechanical freezing during extreme cold, according to analysts at consultancy ICF International.
Emergency action
The neighboring power grid, MISO, has issued an emergency all-hands-on-deck response aimed at preventing capacity shortages as some power plants are forced offline or reduce production due to freezing temperatures. This alerted utilities to be prepared to produce as much electricity as possible. MISO spot wholesale electricity prices rose above $400 per MWh across the grid operator’s territory as the upper Midwest experienced transmission bottlenecks over power lines. Electricity prices in MISO’s southern region, which were below $50 per MWh earlier on Saturday, rose above $200 per MWh in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, MISO reported.
In New England, heating oil production kicked into high gear to help the six-state region’s electric grid conserve natural gas, its main fuel source.
As evening approached Saturday, oil-fired electricity generation was responsible for 38% of New England’s electric grid output, compared with a typical level of about 1% or less, ISO New England operating data showed. Natural gas, typically the grid’s main fuel source, accounted for 24% of the grid’s generation output.
TEXAS GRID TESTED
For the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the winter storm is the biggest test for the state’s main grid operator since 2021, when a storm nearly caused a catastrophic regional power outage.
More than 200 people died when ERCOT lost about half of its generating capacity due to frigid weather.
Since then, stricter state and federal regulations have been implemented to require better winter preparedness from utilities and grid operators across the country.
Rute said ERCOT appears to be in good shape because it has abundant fossil fuel generation, large contributions from wind and solar energy and more battery storage than any other electric grid.
“I think the chance of a repeat in 2021 is very slim,” he said. “But no blackout happens the same way twice.”
Published on January 25, 2026
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