January 28, 2026 - A brutal cold spell has settled across much of the U.S., and it’s testing electric grids like never before. It’s also reigniting the political debate about what kind of power America needs.

In emergency orders issued in the past couple of days, Energy Secretary Chris Wright essentially suspended environmental laws so that fossil-fuel plants can run without limits “to mitigate blackouts.”

Environmentalists counter that the Trump administration itself has caused electricity shortfalls by blocking clean energy projects and canceling financing for grid upgrades.

The orders from Wright cover New York, New England, Texas, and the mid-Atlantic. And he has authorized electricity grids to deploy backup generators at major sites like data centers. Cumulatively, Wright estimated they could provide as much as 35 gigawatts of power capacity, or the equivalent of 35 large nuclear reactors.

In his statements, Wright also took aim at former President Joe Biden and praised his boss, President Donald Trump.

“The previous administration’s energy subtraction policies weakened the grid,” the energy secretary said. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are reversing those failures and using every available tool to keep the lights on and Americans safe through this storm.”

Wright’s department had already ordered several coal plants that were set to close to keep operating.

So far, power outages from Winter Storm Fern have been relatively few. About 560,000 households were without power as of Tuesday, according to poweroutage.us. In Texas and the mid-Atlantic, several power plants have gone offline because of the cold, but it hasn’t yet caused the grid to buckle.

Natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants account for the bulk of power generation in key markets affected by the storm.

At PJM, which covers 13 states and Washington, D.C., those sources accounted for 83% of power around midday on Tuesday. Part of that may have to do with solar’s relatively lower generation in the winter, but it’s also impacted by the slow rollout of renewables in PJM.

Some fossil fuel power plants appear to have faltered; in PJM, there were about 21 gigawatts worth of plants that had been forced offline on Monday.

A PJM spokesman said the grid operator doesn’t have data yet on which plants went offline.

The plant breakdowns and high natural gas prices during the storm show that Trump’s policy is misguided, according to some commentators.

“We don’t yet know why exactly PJM’s fossil fuel power plants failed during Winter Storm Fern, but gas supplies are already emerging as a culprit for some of the problems,” wrote Silvio Marcacci, communications director at the think tank Energy Innovations. “While PJM didn’t suffer blackouts, Winter Storm Fern shows why the U.S. Department of Energy’s pro-fossil fuel policies are a problem.”

In other markets, there are signs that solar, wind and batteries have kept the grid humming. In Texas, solar power peaked on Monday at 25 gigawatts, wind at 18, and batteries discharged over 7 gigawatts, according to the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance, an industry group for alternative energy sources.

Environmentalists and some Democrats blame Trump for making the grid weaker. The president, they say, hasn’t just prioritized fossil fuel resources—he has worked to squash renewable ones.

For instance, the Trump administration stopped work on all offshore wind farms in December, citing national security concerns. That included Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts.

Last month, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said the order was particularly damaging to winter grid reliability. Grid operators that depend on wind also have said the cancellations could hurt reliability.

“This stop work order means Massachusetts is losing out on new, additional power generation that could power over 200,000 homes and businesses this winter,” Healey said. “Offshore wind has its highest output in the coldest winter months when the New England grid is most constrained.”

Trump officials have canceled funding for other kinds of energy projects designed to add power to the grid. That includes the Grain Belt Express, a transmission line for renewable energy in the Midwest that had received a $4.9 billion conditional loan guarantee under the Biden administration. The Energy Department said the loan wasn’t a good use of taxpayer resources.

Climate advocates echo that those kinds of decisions weaken the grid. One is Climate Power, a climate change advocacy group.

“Trump’s attacks on clean energy are weakening the grid and making winter storms more dangerous, forcing millions of Americans to face unnecessary risk, power outages, and soaring utility bills,” said senior adviser Mia Logan in a statement.