The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it is ready to take emergency measures to prevent blackouts as winter storm Fern approaches. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright sent a letter to grid operators, asking them to keep in contact with DOE during the storm and prepare backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities for use if needed. The department estimates that more than 35 gigawatts of unused backup generation are available across the country.
Secretary Wright stated, “The Trump administration will not stand by and allow the previous administration’s reckless energy subtraction policies and bureaucratic red tape put American lives at risk. We have identified more than 35 GW of unused backup generation that exists across the country and are taking action to ensure that if the nation needs it, the generation will be made available. Rest assured, President Trump and the Energy Department remain committed to doing everything in our power to mitigate blackouts and lower energy costs for the American people.”
President Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office, citing concerns about grid vulnerability following policy changes under the Biden administration. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has reported an increase in winter electricity demand and warned that closing coal and natural gas plants early could leave families exposed to outages. Its 2025–2026 Winter Reliability Assessment notes elevated blackout risks during severe weather events.
According to DOE’s National Laboratories, power outages cost Americans $44 billion each year. The draft order from Secretary Wright aims to reduce these outages during winter by using existing backup resources as a last resort before declaring an Energy Emergency Alert Level 3.
Under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, this draft order would cover data centers and large industrial or commercial sites—including auxiliary, standby, directly connected, and battery storage systems—regardless of their connection status with the main grid. These resources would only be used after all demand response options have been tried.
