America’s power grid is entering 2026 with mounting stress, and experts warn that a handful of states face the sharpest blackout risk if extreme weather hits. With demand climbing faster than new capacity and winter storms already exposing weak links,

By Tim McLaughlin BOSTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. electric grid operators on Saturday stepped up precautions to avoid rotating blackouts as frigid weather hitting half of the country's population stressed their operations.

Changes to ERCOT, power supply facilities in Texas after catastrophic 2021 winter storm should help weather January storm.

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued an emergency order allowing ERCOT to direct data centers and other large energy consumers to use backup generators in order to preserve the Texas energy grid.

A deadly winter storm that brought massive snowfall across the U.S. has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people in the South and is crippling travel in the Northeast. Jan 26, 6:33 AM At least 18 dead across multiple states At least 18 deaths have been attributed to the storm nationwide.

Ultimately, more than 220 million people could be affected by Winter Storm Fern. More than a dozen states issued states of emergency as they prepare to respond to potentially widespread power outages that could last days.