What Winter Storm Fern revealed about the grid

Published on January 30, 2026

This analysis and news roundup come from the Canary Media Weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it every Friday. Back in 2021, Winter Storm Uri resulted in more than 240 deaths in Texas as freezing temperatures shut down gas power plants and pushed the state’s independent electricity grid to the brink of collapse. It…

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Rethinking risk in the age of climate chaos 

January 30, 2026
On a cold and blustery day in March 2011, a massive, 80-metre-tall wind turbine at Iberdrola’s 149megawatt Rugby Wind Power Project in North Dakota suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure. Some bolts let go and the entire rotor assembly, along with all three blades, crashed to the ground. No one was hurt; there was no contamination, no cascading grid impacts and no lasting effect on the local e

The 4 lessons New England’s grid can learn from Winter Storm Fern

January 30, 2026
First it got cold. Across New England, temperatures have been almost constantly below 20 degrees Fahrenheit since last Friday night. Then it snowed. Winter Storm Fern swept through the region on Sunday and Monday, leaving more than two feet of white stuff in its wake in many places. But despite the extreme weather,…