The cold weather pattern that wreaked havoc last week has given way to warmer temperatures across the entire Lower 48 and Canada.  Like any other severe weather event, the aftermath is worth looking at to see what we can learn from it and how the next one might impact the grid.  The good news is that we are at the end of the 2025 winter cycle so the lessons will have to be bottled up until we hit the ground running in 2026.

Figure 1 | Frigid Cold in February 2025

The purple coloration in the images above identifies how severe the cold weather pattern during the middle of February as the Upper Midwest went days without reaching positive daytime highs while the Ohio Valley and Plains included wind chill factors that pushed forth a freeze that wreaked havoc on infrastructure for both residential and commercial operations........