Nashville Democratic Mayor Freddie O&#8217;Connell blasted the city&#8217;s electric service over the weekend just days after praising its efforts to restore power to residents left in the cold.
O&#8217;Connell said that he met with Nashville Electric Service (NES) leaders on Sunday and told them that the agency&#8217;s response and messaging around widespread power outages has been &#8220;unacceptable.&#8221; Tens of thousands of Nashville residents have gone nine days without power following a massive ice storm that ripped down trees and power lines across the city. At least four deaths have been <a href="https://www.wsmv.com/2026/01/30/victims-suspected-winter-storm-related-deaths-across-nashville-identified/">linked</a> to the storm and ensuing power outage in Nashville.
&#8220;What I learned today is that NES is unequipped to communicate about a crisis,&#8221; O&#8217;Connell <a href="https://x.com/peytonTVkennedy/status/2018298760242033103">said</a> after the meeting. &#8220;Nashvillians can&#8217;t get the last week back—nights huddled under blankets, unplanned shelter or hotel stays, the uncertainty and fear of not knowing what&#8217;s happening and how long it will take to simply return home. And that&#8217;s why it&#8217;s so troubling that details NES leadership shared about their internal outlook—that they hadn&#8217;t previously shared with us—would&#8217;ve had a huge impact on the public guidance we gave from the beginning of the crisis. That is unacceptable.&#8221;
The mayor&#8217;s statement following the meeting marked a change in tune from when O&#8217;Connell defended the Nashville Electric Service last week as residents grew frustrated with the agency&#8217;s response.
&#8220;Let’s be clear about what this is — it is a historic ice storm. This is the largest single outage in NES history. We do not have these kinds of weather events all the time,&#8221; O&#8217;Connell said at a press conference last Tuesday.
On Thursday, O&#8217;Connell suggested that the Nashville Electric Service&#8217;s response was a &#8220;success.&#8221;
&#8220;The fact that this is their largest ever number of line crews out with line workers and vegetation support ever, I think that&#8217;s a sign of their success,&#8221; he <a href="https://fox17.com/news/local/nashville-mayor-freddie-oconnell-nes-power-outages-changes-tune-says-he-is-not-satisfied-tennessee-winter-storm">said</a>, according to Fox 17 Nashville. Later during Thursday&#8217;s briefing, O&#8217;Connell said he was &#8220;not satisfied&#8221; with the power restoration efforts.
The Nashville Electric Service is led by a CEO, but it also has a five-member board that is appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council. Two of the current NES board members have been <a href="https://nashvillebanner.com/2026/02/02/nashville-ice-storm-recovery-nes-criticism/">appointed</a> by O&#8217;Connell. The Daily Wire reached out to the mayor&#8217;s office and asked if O&#8217;Connell met with NES leaders before the storm hit on January 24 to discuss the city&#8217;s response.
The Nashville Electric Service has faced increased criticism as over 20,000 homes and businesses remain without power in the Music City on Monday. The agency deployed only 200 linemen at the beginning of the storm to repair downed lines, far below the total number of linemen that would eventually be needed. NES officials said over 1,000 linemen are now working on restoring power in the city.
&#8220;Progress has been made with power restored to 80% of our customers who had outages,&#8221; NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin <a href="https://x.com/NESpower/status/2017753965769732192">said</a> on Saturday. &#8220;By Tuesday, 90% will be restored, and by Sunday, February 8, 99% of our customers will have power back.&#8221;
She added that extensive damage in some areas means it will take the electric service more time to get power restored.
Broyles-Aplin&#8217;s past <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-electric-ceo-touted-tree-hugging-over-aggressive-trimming-months-before-massive-ice-storm">comments</a> on tree maintenance have also come under scrutiny. Last August, the NES leader stressed the importance of saving Nashville&#8217;s tree &#8220;canopy&#8221; and avoiding aggressive trimming practices. Some Nashville tree service professionals argued that the Nashville Electric Service doesn&#8217;t do enough to keep trees away from power lines.
Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-senator-declares-war-on-woke-nashville-power-company-after-week-long-outage?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Tennessee+Senator+Declares+War+On+%E2%80%98Woke%E2%80%99+Nashville+Power+Company+After+Week-Long+Outage">ripped</a> the electric service for spending time focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
&#8220;The Nashville Electric Service held 102 DEI-related training sessions by the end of 2024. They should’ve been using those resources to trim trees and bury utilities. This is what happens when companies put woke politics over the needs of the people they serve,&#8221; Blackburn said on Sunday.
Last week, the Tennessee Star <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/politics/letter-from-nashville-electric-service-ceo-shows-utility-company-held-102-dei-training-sessions-by-end-of-2024/tpappert/2026/01/29/">highlighted</a> a 2024 NES &#8220;community investment&#8221; <a href="https://www.nespower.com/-/media/project/nes/common/pdfs/annual-reports/2024/nes-esg-2024-report-interactive.pdf">report</a>, which stated, &#8220;To foster a culture of civility and belonging within our organization with the hopes of extending that dynamic beyond our walls, NES’ Human Relations Department implemented Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, &amp; Belonging (DEIAB) trainings, hosting a total of 102 sessions in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 for both organization-wide education and nuanced resources for leadership positions.&#8221;
Blackburn argued that while linemen are working hard to restore power to Nashville residents, leaders are botching the response.
&#8220;The linemen who are on the ground making repairs and working in the frigid temperatures to restore power are the unsung heroes of the response to this horrible winter storm,&#8221; Blackburn said. &#8220;So grateful for these men and women.&#8221;

Freddie O’Connell

Nashville’s Dem Mayor Slams Electric Service He Just Praised As City Hits 9 Days Without Power

Nashville

Severe Weather

Tennessee

U.S.

Winter storm

The top official at the Nashville Electric Service touted her effort to save Nashville&#8217;s tree &#8220;canopy&#8221; last August instead of aggressively trimming trees away from power lines. Nashville Electric Service CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin&#8217;s past comments have now come under scrutiny after an ice storm wrecked Nashville, bringing trees down onto roads and power lines and resulting in the worst power outage in the city&#8217;s history.
The Tennessee Star <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/culture/woke-nes-ceo-on-tree-trimming-i-dont-want-us-out-destroying-the-canopy/khousler/2026/01/29/">reported</a> on Thursday that Broyles-Aplin, who took over as CEO of the electric service in 2022, touted her tree-hugging efforts during an August appearance on &#8220;<a href="https://www.newschannel5.com/plus/urban-league-live/nashville-electric-service">Urban League Live</a>&#8221; on NewsChannel 5 Nashville.
&#8220;We have customers sometimes that are concerned that we may be trimming aggressively and not taking into account the health of the trees, and that couldn&#8217;t be further from the truth,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We do species-specific trimming that is intended to ensure the health of the tree. &#8230; I think most people don&#8217;t realize that we go to that depth of effort, and we have arborists on our staff &#8230; that oversee the planning and the post-cutting inspections, so we take a lot of pride in making sure that we are cutting the trees in a healthy fashion.&#8221;
“We care about the [tree] canopy. We have to live here, too,” Broyles-Aplin said. “And so I don’t want us out destroying the canopy.&#8221;
The Daily Wire reached out to the Nashville Electric Service for comment.
While Broyles-Aplin assured people last August that the electric service takes extreme care in its trimming, some Nashville tree service owners told <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2026/01/29/nes-nashville-power-outage-ice-tree-experts/88409270007/">The Tennesseean</a> that the Nashville Electric Service wasn&#8217;t properly keeping up with tree maintenance.
“If they maintained it better, there would be less power outages, at the end of the day,” said Lucas Crenshaw, but he also acknowledged that &#8220;you can only prepare so much.&#8221;
Meagan Cowles, another tree service owner, told the Nashville outlet, &#8220;I am very confident in my opinion to say that NES does not follow the proper cutting procedures to follow the standards.&#8221;
Tree cutting professionals told The Tennessean that the Nashville Electric Service should expand how far it cuts trees from power lines to ensure that falling trees don&#8217;t crash into the lines. They also suggested that homeowners should trim or cut trees on their property that could pose a risk to the power lines near their homes.
The Nashville Electric Service is the 11th largest public utilities agency in the country. The service&#8217;s five-member board is appointed by the mayor and confirmed by Nashville&#8217;s Metro Council. The Nashville Electric Service has been criticized over its preparedness and response to the winter storm that pounded the city with snow and ice last weekend. Tens of thousands of Nashville residents have gone without power for five days as the city also faces extremely cold temperatures.
Along with facing scrutiny over its tree trimming strategy, the agency has also been slammed by many residents who say there is a lack of manpower in the field to address the vast power outages. The Nashville Electric Service had around 200 linemen prepared to work on downed lines, and the agency has nearly quadrupled the number of linemen in the field since the weekend, relying on help from other states.
One lineman told <a href="https://fox17.com/news/local/nashville-electric-service-accused-of-rejecting-help-amid-massive-power-outages-nes-winter-storm-middle-tennessee-union-memebers">Fox 17 Nashville</a> that he doesn’t think Nashville has deployed enough workers to address the widespread outages, adding that the city needed &#8220;a minimum of 2,000&#8221; linemen. The lineman said he believes the electric company didn’t want to pay union wages for outside help.
Broyles-Aplin released a <a href="https://x.com/NESpower/status/2016901409342374389">statement</a> on Thursday morning addressing the ongoing power outages.
&#8220;Many of you are waking up to day #5 without power, which is a significant hardship. It’s our job at NES to keep the power on, and we will not stop until every household in Nashville has power again,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This storm was unprecedented for Nashville and our country, affecting almost half of the U.S. Its icy layers caused widespread damage across our service area to transmission lines, substations and distribution networks.&#8221;
Broyles-Aplin said that around 230,000 residents lost power at the peak of the outages, but it was around 230,000 homes and businesses without power at the peak. Since multiple people reside in many homes, the outages likely affected far more than 230,000 people.
&#8220;Today, we have less than 90,000 homes remaining without electricity. NES has brought in partners from around the country to engage additional available, qualified crews,&#8221; Broyles-Aplin added.
The utilities CEO said that some Nashville residents should be prepared for the power outages to continue &#8220;through the weekend or longer.&#8221; Temperatures are expected to plunge again in the Music City this weekend, with lows nearing 10 degrees.

Nashville Electric CEO Touted Tree-Hugging Over Aggressive Trimming Months Before Massive Ice Storm

Power

Winter Storm Fern is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/winter-weather/live-blog/live-updates-winter-storm-freezing-rain-snow-rcna255871">responsible</a> for at least 17 deaths so far, with fatalities reported in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Arkansas.
Officials in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Louisiana have each reported three deaths. Mississippi and Texas have reported two deaths each. The other states have reported one death each, per officials.
The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed that an 86-year-old man died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves also confirmed two weather-related fatalities from the winter storm, per NBC News. Ohio police announced a tragic incident in which a snowmobiler was struck and killed by a plow truck.
<a href="https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/deadly-historic-winter-storm-ice-power-outages-south-snow-northeast">Fox Weather</a> reported on the death of a 16-year-old girl in Frisco, Texas. The teenager died after a sledding crash, and another teenager is in critical condition. Local police said the two were being pulled by an SUV when the sled hit a tree.
In Pennsylvania, the coroner&#8217;s office said three people died in three separate medical incidents while they were cleaning up snow on Sunday, according to Fox Weather. The outlet also reported that a Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority snowplow struck a married couple who were on a walk. The wife died from her injuries.
In New York, several deaths are being investigated as potentially weather-related, so the number of dead could rise.
The Northeast is getting the last bit of snowfall from the storm, but the bitter cold temperatures aren&#8217;t moving out.
According to The Weather Channel, the cold could last well into next week. The National Weather Service has issued extreme cold alerts in parts of the Midwest, South, and Ohio Valley as the frigid air arrives.
More than a dozen low-temperature records were broken Monday morning. Some of the cities that dropped to their lowest temperatures include: New Orleans at 27 degrees, San Antonio and Austin at 19 degrees, Tulsa at 0 degrees, and Springfield, Missouri, at a record -11 degrees.
The Arctic blast will refreeze existing ice and snow, making power outages worse, especially in the South, where ice has been the biggest threat.
The cold temperatures are devastating to regions of the country dealing with power outages. There are more than 800,000 people without power, including 250,000 in Tennessee alone.
In Mississippi, more than 145,750 people are without power. Louisiana isn&#8217;t far behind, with 117,325 customers still in the dark. Texas has nearly 50,000 without power.

Credit: Jon Cherry via Getty Images

Death Toll Rising From Winter Storm As Parts Of Country Remain In Sub-Freezing Temperatures

cold temperatures

Death

winter weather

Jan 26 (Reuters) &#8211; A powerful winter storm sweeping across much of the United States forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights and delay hundreds on Monday, as freezing rain and heavy snowfall disrupted travel and snarled transportation networks.
About 3,800 flights were canceled, and more than 1,000 were delayed as of early Monday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, following more than 11,000 cancellations reported on Sunday.
The number of cancellations and delays was expected to rise as the day progressed.
Low pressure south of New England is expected to move east over the Atlantic on Monday, bringing heavy snow to parts of the Northeast and freezing rain across sections of the Mid-Atlantic, the U.S. National Weather Service said.
Snow is also expected along the Appalachian region, while rain will spread along the Southeast coast as a cold front moves offshore, the agency said.
American Airlines accounted for the largest share of disruptions on Monday, with more than 600 flights canceled and about 135 delayed, followed by Republic Airways, JetBlue Airways, and Delta Air Lines.
Shares of American Airlines, Delta Air, and United Airlines fell nearly 1% each in premarket trading.
The disruptions also left thousands of travel plans in limbo. Passengers inundated carriers on social media platforms such as X seeking clarity on flight schedules.
MORE DISRUPTION LIKELY
The Federal Aviation Administration said in an advisory that weather-related constraints, including snow, freezing rain and low visibility, were affecting major hubs such as Boston and the New York-area airspace.
The agency said ground stops and delay programs could be imposed through the afternoon at airports including LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy International, Philadelphia International, Newark Liberty International and Washington Dulles International if conditions worsen.
Major American carriers rolled out sweeping travel waivers and flexible re-booking options to assist passengers whose travel plans were disrupted by the cancellations.
Airline operations are highly interconnected, meaning cancellations can leave aircraft and crews out of position, complicating efforts to restore normal flight schedules.
International operations were also affected by the extreme weather. Dutch carrier KLM said some of its U.S.-bound flights were disrupted over the weekend, but added that all services to the country were expected to operate normally on Monday.
ROADS BATTERED, THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER
The storm also impeded road travel. The Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that driving conditions could become dangerous as blizzard-like conditions, strong winds, and ice spread further.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of customers across several states, from Tennessee to the Carolinas, reported power outages, with Tennessee reporting the most cases.
More than 820,000 customers were without electricity as of early hours on Monday, according to data from PowerOutage.us.
(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Joanna Plucinska in London; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
&nbsp;

Travellers at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

Massive Winter Storm Wreaks Havoc On Travel, Cancels Flights

Over a million Americans are without power, and at least nine are dead as a result of the winter storm battering the southern and eastern United States.
Winter Storm Fern has blanketed the country with ice, snow, and freezing temperatures — a dangerous combination that has many concerned power outages will last into next week. Airlines across the United States have <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2026/01/25/flight-cancellations-delays-winter-storm/88339910007/">canceled</a> the highest number of flights since the coronavirus pandemic, according to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2026/01/25/flight-cancellations-delays-winter-storm/88339910007/">USA Today,</a> with 4,500 flights within, into, or out of the United States delayed as of Sunday night, according to <a href="http://flightaware.com/">FlightAware.com</a>. Over 11,000 flights have been canceled.
“The dangers aren&#8217;t over even with the precipitation ending,” National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center meteorologist Brian Hurley told USA Today. “A lot of the areas that are still getting the heavy ice, freezing rain, sleet and snow, will stay below freezing through the work week.”
“We worry about people having cold weather exposure with no power,” Hurley said.
The storm, which began on Friday, has hammered a stretch of the United States from Texas to the East Coast, dumping snow and freezing rain across hundreds of miles. Several states have declared emergencies over the impacts of the storm, including Tennessee, Indiana, and South Carolina, among others.
“Heavy snow will continue to spread across the Northeast this evening and overnight, with rapid accumulations (1–2”/hr) producing totals around 2 feet in parts of the region. Catastrophic ice impacts linger farther south with prolonged power outages,” the National Weather Service <a href="https://x.com/NWSWPC/status/2015523975535759843">posted</a> on Sunday afternoon.
Videos and images of the storm&#8217;s aftermath <a href="https://x.com/MNPDNashville/status/2015559524476760412">posted</a> online have shown a glimpse of the damage, with downed power lines and trees blocking roads. Numerous closures and restrictions of schools, businesses, and local offices have been announced.
At least five of the dead were found outside in New York, but reports say they were not believed to be homeless.
&#8220;While we do not yet know their causes of death, there is no more powerful reminder of the dangers of the extreme cold, and how vulnerable how many of our neighbors are, especially homeless New Yorkers,&#8221; New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
Another exposure-related death was reported in Michigan and one in Austin, Texas. Two more were reported in Louisiana.

US Winter Storm Prompts Power Grid Emergencies, Travel Chaos

Millions Without Power As Massive Winter Storm Batters Swaths Of The United States

More than 800,000 customers in the United States, as far west as New Mexico, were without electricity, and over 10,000 flights were canceled on Sunday ahead of a monster winter storm that threatened to paralyze eastern states with heavy snowfall.
Forecasters said snow, sleet, freezing rain, and dangerously frigid temperatures would sweep the eastern two-thirds of the nation on Sunday and into the week.
Calling the storms &#8220;historic,&#8221; President Donald Trump on Saturday approved federal emergency disaster declarations in South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia.
&#8220;We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm,&#8221; Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have declared weather emergencies, the Department of Homeland Security said.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, at a news conference on Saturday, warned Americans to take precautions.
&#8220;It’s going to be very, very cold,&#8221; Noem said. &#8220;So we&#8217;d encourage everybody to stock up on fuel, stock up on food, and we will get through this together.&#8221;
The number of power outages continued to rise. As of 10:18 a.m. EST (1518 GMT) on Sunday, more than 800,000 U.S. customers were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us, with at least 300,000 in Tennessee and over 100,000 each in Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana. Other states affected included Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama.
The Department of Energy on Saturday issued an emergency order authorizing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities, aiming to limit blackouts in the state.
On Sunday, the DOE issued an emergency order to authorize grid operator PJM Interconnection to run &#8220;specified resources&#8221; in the mid-Atlantic region, regardless of limits due to state laws or environmental permits.
The National Weather Service warned of an unusually expansive and long-duration winter storm that would bring widespread, heavy ice accumulation in the Southeast, where &#8220;crippling to locally catastrophic impacts&#8221; can be expected.
Weather service forecasters predicted record cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills descending further into the Great Plains region by Monday.
More than 10,100 U.S. flights scheduled for Sunday were canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Over 4,000 flights were canceled on Saturday.
Major U.S. airlines warned passengers to stay alert for abrupt flight changes and cancellations.
Delta Air Lines adjusted its schedule on Saturday, with additional cancellations in the morning for Atlanta and along the East Coast, including in Boston and New York City.
It would relocate experts from cold-weather hubs to support de-icing and baggage teams at several southern airports, the airline said.
JetBlue said that as of Saturday morning, it had canceled about 1,000 flights through Monday.
United Airlines said it had proactively canceled some flights in places with the worst expected weather.
U.S. electric grid operators on Saturday stepped up precautions to avoid rotating blackouts.
Dominion Energy, whose Virginia operations include the largest collection of data centers in the world, said if its ice forecast held, the winter event could be among the largest to affect the company.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Lewis Krauskopf; Additional reporting by Chandni Shah, Devika Nair, and Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru, and Blake Brittain in Washington, DC; Editing by Sergio Non, Chizu Nomiyama, Edwina Gibbs, Bernadette Baum, and Nick Zieminski)

Major winter storm spreads across a large swath of the United States

Winter Storm Leaves 800,000 Without Power, Forces 10,000 Flight Cancellations

Airlines

Canceled flights

Donald Trump

More than 4,000 flights were canceled in the U.S. on Saturday ahead of a monster winter storm that has already cut power to more than 100,000 utility customers as far west as Texas, and threatened to paralyze eastern states with heavy snowfall.
Forecasters said snow, sleet and freezing rain, accompanied by dangerously frigid temperatures, would sweep the eastern two-thirds of the nation on Sunday and into next week.
Calling the storms &#8220;historic,&#8221; President Donald Trump on Saturday approved federal emergency disaster declarations in South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia.
&#8220;We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm,&#8221; Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have declared weather emergencies, the Department of Homeland Security said.
&#8220;We do have tens of thousands of people in affected states in the South that have lost power. We have utility crews that are working to restore that as quick as possible,&#8221; DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said late Saturday afternoon.
The number of power outages continued to rise. As of 6:30 pm ET, more than 130,000 U.S. customers had lost electricity, the bulk of them in Texas and Louisiana, according to PowerOutage.com.
The U.S. National Weather Service warned of an unusually expansive and long-duration winter storm that will bring widespread, heavy ice accumulation in the southeast U.S. and cited &#8220;crippling to locally catastrophic impacts.&#8221;
Weather service forecasters predicted record cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills descending further into the Great Plains region of the U.S. by Monday.
As of 6:42 p.m. EST, more than 4,000 U.S. flights scheduled for Saturday had been canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. More than 9,000 U.S. flights originally set for Sunday also have been canceled, the website indicated.
Major U.S. airlines warned passengers to stay alert for abrupt flight changes and cancellations.
In an update on its website on Saturday morning, Delta Air said it “continues to make schedule adjustments due to Winter Storm Fern,” with additional cancellations in the morning for Atlanta and along the East Coast, including Delta hubs in Boston and New York City.
The airline said it was relocating experts from cold weather hubs to support de-icing and baggage teams at several southern airports.
JetBlue said as of Saturday morning it had canceled about 1,000 flights through Monday, with additional cancellations possible, as it was “closely monitoring” forecasts for the storm.
U.S. electric grid operators on Saturday stepped up precautions to avoid rotating blackouts.
Dominion Energy, whose Virginia operations include the largest collection of data centers in the world, said if its ice forecast holds, it could be among the largest-ever winter events to affect the utility&#8217;s operations.
Noem, speaking at a news conference about U.S. government preparations for the storm, warned Americans to take precautions.
&#8220;It’s going to be very, very cold,&#8221; Noem said. &#8220;So we&#8217;d encourage everybody to stock up on fuel, stock up on food, and we will get through this together.&#8221;
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Sergio Non, David Gregorio and Chizu Nomiyama)

Snowstorm

Winter Storm Leads To More Than 100,000 Power Outages, Thousands Of Flight Cancellations

Texas

U.S. electric grid operators on Saturday stepped up precautions to avoid rotating blackouts as frigid weather hitting half of the country&#8217;s population stressed their operations.
The PJM Interconnection &#8211; the largest U.S. regional grid that serves 67 million people in the East and Mid-Atlantic &#8211; reported temporary spikes in spot wholesale electricity prices that soared above $3,000 per megawatt hour on Saturday morning from earlier levels of less than $200 per MWh.
Older power plants, typically idled much of the year, are coming online to take advantage of the elevated prices to serve higher than expected demand, said Georg Rute, CEO of grid software company Gridraven, and an expert on how weather affects power line capacity.
&#8220;A 40-year-old gas turbine switches on because it sees these super-high prices,&#8221; Rute told Reuters. He added it is a sign of stress in the PJM system and elsewhere.
Prices also soared in other regions as stormy weather and temperatures hovering around 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 Celsius) pushed up electricity demand and prompted some operators to shut in natural gas production in key basins, while grid companies also faced constraints on gas pipeline supply.
Dominion Energy, whose Virginia operations include the largest collection of data centers in the world, said if its ice forecast holds, it has the potential to be one of the largest winter events to affect the utility&#8217;s operations.
While regional grid operators juggle restricted fuel supplies, congested transmission lines and wild weather, electric utilities are staging crews to repair expected ice and snow damage on low-voltage distribution lines that bring power to homes and businesses.
Faced with constricted gas supplies, regional U.S. grid operators are asking coal and gas-fired power plants to boost output, according to grid operations reports.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator called on power plants to maximize output and curtailed electricity exports in a territory that stretches across 15 states in the Midwest and South and Manitoba, Canada.
Over the past 24 hours, MISO imported up to several thousand megawatts of power from PJM&#8217;s territory to meet demand, according to MISO&#8217;s operations reports.
PJM faces greater reliability threats in winter because natural gas plants &#8211; the backbone of its generation &#8211; frequently face fuel supply constraints and mechanical freezing during extreme cold, according to analysts at consulting firm ICF International.
Neighboring grid MISO issued an all-hands-on-deck emergency action designed to avoid capacity shortfalls as some power plants are forced offline or reduce their output because of freezing temperatures, alerting utilities to be prepared to produce as much electricity as possible.
MISO spot wholesale electricity prices soared to nearly $500 per MWh in MISO&#8217;s Minnesota hub, as the upper Midwest experienced transmission bottlenecks across high-voltage power lines. By contrast, spot electricity prices in MISO&#8217;s southern territory were less than $50 per MWh.
In New England, fuel oil generation kicked into high gear to help the six-state region&#8217;s electric grid conserve natural gas, its top fuel source.
Early Saturday, oil-fired generation accounted for 35% of the New England grid&#8217;s output, compared with a typical level of about 1% or less, ISO New England&#8217;s operations display showed. Natural gas, usually the grid&#8217;s main fuel source, accounted for 22% of the grid&#8217;s generation output.
New England spot electricity prices were more than $300 per MWh, or about double the price on Friday.
For the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the winter storm is the biggest test for the state&#8217;s main grid operator since 2021, when a storm nearly caused a catastrophic regional blackout.
More than 200 people died as ERCOT lost about half of its generation capacity amid frigid weather.
Since then, stricter state and federal rules have been implemented to require better winter readiness by utilities and grid operators throughout the country.
Rute said ERCOT appears to be in good shape as it has abundant fossil-fuel generation, big contributions from wind and solar power, and more battery storage than any other grid.
&#8220;I think there&#8217;s very little chance of a (2021) rerun,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But no blackout happens the same way twice.&#8221;
(Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Jan Harvey, Liz Hampton, Rod Nickel)

Icicles

Frigid Weather Stresses U.S. Electric Grid

Electricity

power grid

Some 9,000 flights set for this weekend have already been canceled in anticipation of Winter Storm Ferm.
The storm, which meteorologists say could cause as much damage as a hurricane, will likely knock out power and impede travel both in the sky and on the roads for millions.
Currently, there are about 140 million Americans under a winter storm warning, ranging from New Mexico to New England.
The Weather Channel, though, <a href="https://weather.com/news/weather/news/2026-01-24-live-updates-winter-storm-fern-january-24?cm_ven=dnt_social_twitter">says</a> that ultimately 230 million people could be affected by Winter Storm Fern. More than a dozen states have already issued states of emergency, it noted.
&#8220;Take this storm seriously, folks,&#8221; the National Weather Service posted to X on Saturday. &#8220;Moderate to major impacts are expected from the Central US through to the Northeast today through the weekend.&#8221;
The NWS said to expect &#8220;hazardous to impossible driving conditions&#8221; and urged folks in affected areas to &#8220;avoid travel if at all possible.&#8221;
&#8220;Widespread closures and disruption to infrastructure may also occur,&#8221; it added. &#8220;Stay weather aware.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Take this storm seriously, folks.
Moderate to major impacts are expected from the Central US through to the Northeast today through the weekend. 
&#8211; Hazardous to impossible driving conditions are expected. Avoid travel if at all possible. 
&#8211; Widespread closures and disruption to… <a href="https://t.co/bR76NpsrEy">pic.twitter.com/bR76NpsrEy</a>
— National Weather Service (@NWS) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWS/status/2014828034075803679?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-favorite-meteorologist-breaks-down-this-weekends-wild-weather-forecast">The Daily Wire</a> on Friday that much of the country will experience three different types of precipitation from the storm: snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
“In Dallas, they’re gonna have multiple precipitation types,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They’re going to start to snow, maybe go to freezing rain, and then end with the snow again. Nashville starts to snow, sleet, freezing rain, then ends as snow or freezing drizzle. Washington, D.C., starts to snow, heavy snow, goes to sleet, then freezing rain, maybe even a little rain just east of D.C., and then back to cold behind this cold front.”
Ice, though, could be the most dangerous form of precipitation.
“You can have power loss with a 1/4 inch of ice,&#8221; Cantore explained. &#8220;You can get more extensive power loss with a 0.5-inch [of ice]. Severe widespread power loss with 3/4 of an inch, and once you get over one inch of ice, now you’re talking about bringing the lines down and trees down.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-favorite-meteorologist-breaks-down-this-weekends-wild-weather-forecast">America’s Favorite Meteorologist Breaks Down This Weekend’s Wild Weather Forecast</a>

Municipal plow truck plowing snow off roadways in Laconia, New Hampshire USA

Winter Storm Fern: Thousands Of Flights Canceled, Millions Under Alert

Air Travel

Oklahoma

Snow

Heavy snow was falling over Northwest Texas and Oklahoma City on Friday morning as a major winter storm began moving east across the U.S., bringing deadly cold and the threat of power outages and treacherously icy roads to almost half the nation&#8217;s population and prompting more than a dozen governors to declare states of emergency.
More than 150 million Americans were under some form of weather emergency notices from the National Weather Service.
Driven by a massive blast of Arctic air from Canada, the storm will move across the nation from the southern Rockies to the East Coast through early Monday, and cover much of the eastern U.S. through the weekend, forecasters said.
At least 14 U.S. states and the District of Columbia had declared states of emergency as of Friday morning, activating resources and mobilizing crews to mitigate the storm&#8217;s impact by salting roads, preparing to respond to power outages, and more.
Brandon Buckingham, a meteorologist with private forecasting company AccuWeather, said snow and sleet had started to fall Thursday evening in portions of the Central Plains, and warned that there was a danger of ice accumulating on roads, trees and power lines.
&#8220;Dallas could see a half-inch of ice,&#8221; Buckingham said. &#8220;This is going to become treacherous very quickly.&#8221;
He said residents should prepare for &#8220;power outages lasting at least several days&#8221; in areas where ice accumulates, even though the storm is expected to dissipate by early Monday.
In Oklahoma City, which could see up to 12 inches of snow and a glaze of ice before the weekend is over, supervisor Morgan Mayo of the cafe Not Your Average Joe said customers were packing in on Friday morning to get out of the frigid temperatures: a low of 8 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to do our darnedest to stay open&#8221; even on Saturday when the high is expected to be just 10 degrees, Mayo said. &#8220;We have several employees who live in walking distance and are willing to brave the storm.&#8221;
In Texas, the potentially catastrophic storm recalls a 2021 ice storm that cut power to nearly 40 percent of the state&#8217;s power grid and left more than 2.7 million people without electricity for days. The storm was blamed for more than 200 deaths, most related to cold temperatures.
The state’s largest electrical grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), said it is ready for this weekend&#8217;s storm and expects “sufficient generation to meet demand this winter.”
As the storm heads east on Saturday and Sunday, upwards of a quarter-inch of ice could accumulate in Atlanta and Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend.
On Sunday, between 4 and 8 inches of snow will fall on Washington D.C., Baltimore, New York City and Boston, although snow exceeding 12 inches is likely to fall in parts of the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic.
In the nation&#8217;s capital, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser on Friday declared a state of emergency and a snow emergency to remain in effect from Saturday through Tuesday. Bowser asked the National Guard to provide high-ground-clearance vehicles to ensure first responders could effectively move through the District.
The storm represents the first major test for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office just weeks ago. He told local news station NY1 on Friday that the city&#8217;s sanitation workforce would transform &#8220;into the nation’s largest snow-fighting operation&#8221; in advance of the heavy snowfall expected on Sunday, but that the city&#8217;s schools would be open on Monday for either in-person or remote learning.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Julia Harte in New York; editing by Donna Bryson and David Gregorio)

Empty Shelves

Snow Starts Falling In Texas, Oklahoma As Eastern U.S. Braces For Winter Storm

Delta Air Lines on Friday urged passengers traveling this weekend to reschedule their flights as a major winter storm threatens to disrupt operations and force widespread cancellations.
The storm is disrupting U.S. air travel, prompting airlines to cancel flights, warn of delays and issue travel waivers as ice, snow and strong winds sweep across major hubs and regional airports in the South, East and central part of U.S.
The airline operator said customers should expect flight cancellations across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, including Nashville and Raleigh–Durham, as the storm threatens to disrupt weekend travel.
Delta Air Lines canceled flights at several airports in five states on Thursday, warning that slow operations could trigger more delays and cancellations, and complicate rebooking during one of the busiest winter travel periods.
About two-thirds of the 815 flights scheduled to depart Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport on Saturday have been canceled, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Separately, American Airlines said it would add more than 3,200 extra seats to and from its Dallas–Fort Worth hub from Friday to Sunday.
The National Weather Service warned that a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow could make travel hazardous and cause power outages and tree damage across the Southeast, with heavier snowfall expected farther north as the storm moves up the country.
Airlines urged passengers to keep a close eye on their flight status and use mobile apps or airline websites for the quickest rebooking options as the storm advances. Travelers have already begun adjusting plans in anticipation of mounting disruption.
(Reporting by Apratim Sarkar in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

Airplane

Delta Urges Travelers To Rebook As Winter Storm Threatens Weekend Flights

Delta Airlines

From Texas to Maine, this weekend will be icy and dicey for 230 million Americans. One of the country&#8217;s most notable meteorologists, The Weather Channel&#8217;s Jim Cantore, explained to The Daily Wire the impact and consequences of this weekend&#8217;s forecasted winter storm and frigid temperatures.
Much of the country will experience three different types of precipitation from this storm: snow, sleet, and freezing rain, according to Cantore.
&#8220;In Dallas, they&#8217;re gonna have multiple precipitation types. They&#8217;re going to start to snow, maybe go to freezing rain, and then end with the snow again,&#8221; Cantore said. &#8220;Nashville starts to snow, sleet, freezing rain. Then ends as snow or freezing drizzle. Washington D.C. starts to snow, heavy snow, goes to sleet, then freezing rain, maybe even a little rain just east of D.C., and then back to cold behind this cold front.&#8221;
The three types of precipitation are why Cantore says the forecast for the storm, officially named Winter Storm Fern, has fluctuated over the last week.
&#8220;All those cities I just mentioned are going to have different precipitation types at different times,&#8221; Cantore explained. &#8220;Exactly how much time you spend in the sleet, the freezing rain, the snow, it&#8217;s hard to forecast that. But at the end of the day, if there&#8217;s a two-inch liquid equivalent of all of that, that&#8217;s the pie. So how you cut up that pie into sleet, freezing rain, snow, rain — sometimes you can&#8217;t do it until the day of the actual event.&#8221;
Cantore says the worst part about the storm forecasted to cover more than half the country is that everyone affected will likely see ice, which can be the most dangerous form of precipitation.
&#8220;An inch of freezing rain in parts of Northern Louisiana, maybe even North Texas, in Northern Mississippi is a disaster because timber is one of their major economic inputs. So they have huge amounts of timber in Mississippi, and now you&#8217;re talking about one inch or two of ice — so they&#8217;re gonna lose trees, they&#8217;re gonna lose power lines. Two inches of ice on a power line weighs about 2,250 pounds. Even if they get an inch and a half, that is bad enough. That&#8217;s still 800 to 1,300 pounds, a tremendous weight on those lines.&#8221;
Cantore said it doesn&#8217;t take much ice to have severe consequences.
&#8220;You can have power loss with a 1/4 inch of ice. You can get more extensive power loss with a 0.5-inch [of ice]. Severe widespread power loss with 3/4 of an inch, and once you get over one inch of ice, now you&#8217;re talking about bringing the lines down and trees down,&#8221; Cantore said.
Areas affected by more than an inch of ice could be without power for more than a week, according to Cantore. The time frame to restore power depends on how quickly the ice thaws, which may not be immediate. The meteorologist explained that an arctic cold front follows Winter Storm Fern. For the South, Cantore estimates a thaw to begin sometime Tuesday or Wednesday.
The unpredictability of the storm and cold front calls for preparedness. Friday is almost too late, according to Cantore, but he suggests getting a generator if one is available, having a gas grill for cooking if power goes out, and stocking up on blankets and firewood to stay warm.
Cantore will ride out the storm in New York City, where the city could break its record for most consecutive days below freezing, which currently stands at 14.
&#8220;This is a big deal. We will likely have hundreds of thousands of people without power because of this large area of freezing rain potential, and that is a huge concern,&#8221; Cantore said.

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