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Wright also instructed grid operators ahead of the storm to prepare an additional 35 gigawatts of backup power sourced from data centers and large commercial facilities, effectively cutting through Biden-era environmental red tape to stabilize the grid before disaster struck.
Biden’s Coal Shutdown Plan Put the Grid at Risk
Under Biden’s EPA rules finalized in April 2024, coal plants supplying nearly 60 percent of America’s electricity would have been forced to either install carbon capture technology—technology that still does not function at commercial scale—or shut down entirely by 2032.
Biden openly bragged about the policy, stating he was “shutting these plants down all across America” and replacing them with wind and solar. His administration even accelerated coal plant closures from 2040 to 2038, deciding the destruction of the coal industry wasn’t happening fast enough.
Grid experts repeatedly warned that this approach was reckless. Grid operators testified before Congress that early fossil fuel retirements created “almost exponentially increased reliability risks.” Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie echoed those concerns, warning the nation was “heading towards a reliability crisis.”
The Biden administration ignored every warning.
Green Energy Failed When Americans Needed It Most
Winter Storm Fern brutally exposed the weakness of renewable energy during extreme weather. As temperatures plunged, wind and solar generation across the storm’s path fell below 10 percent of total electricity production.
Meanwhile, coal and natural gas provided 68 percent of the power that kept hospitals running, homes heated, and families alive.
Energy Department press secretary Ben Dietderich confirmed what conservatives have long argued: renewable energy systems collapse when demand spikes, while fossil fuels shoulder the burden during emergencies.
Even in New England—often hailed as a renewable energy stronghold—nearly two-thirds of electricity during the storm came from coal and hydrocarbon sources. American coal alone powered roughly 30 million homes while wind turbines sat frozen and solar panels were buried under snow.
Experts Warned This Was Coming
A July 2025 Department of Energy report warned that blackout hours could increase by as much as 100 times by 2030 if Biden’s energy policies continued. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) also sounded the alarm, noting that winter electricity demand is rising “at the fastest rate in recent years.”
NERC’s winter assessment made one fact unmistakably clear: coal “continues to play an important role in meeting demand during extreme weather events.” These are precisely the conditions where renewables fail entirely.
The growing reliance on wind and solar creates a dangerous scenario—storms knock out power, followed by calm, cloudy days that leave the grid with no reliable backup. When renewables go silent, there is nothing left to fill the gap.
Trump’s Emergency Action Kept Critical Plants Alive
Wright’s emergency orders preserved coal plants in Colorado, Washington, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania that were scheduled for closure by the end of 2025. These included the Craig Station in Colorado, Centralia in Washington, two Indiana plants, Michigan’s Campbell facility, and the Eddystone units in Pennsylvania.
President Trump kept the plants operational through the winter because Americans deserve electricity “regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.”
Colorado Governor Jared Polis complained that keeping the Craig Station open would “pass tens of millions in costs to Colorado rate payers.” His complaint revealed the core of the Democrat energy agenda—political ideology over public safety.
Biden’s Policies Are Now Being Walked Back
Wright directly blamed the crisis on the prior administration, stating, “The previous administration’s energy subtraction policies weakened the grid, leaving Americans more vulnerable.”
Now, Biden’s EPA is scrambling to repeal the same regulations that would have forced coal plants to cut emissions by 90 percent or shut down altogether by 2032. Those rules would have cost more than $790 million over the next decade for mercury standards alone—despite mercury emissions from coal plants already dropping 90 percent since 2011.
According to DOE data, power outages already cost Americans $44 billion annually.
President Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day back in office to undo “the dangerous energy subtraction policies of the previous administration.” Winter Storm Fern proved exactly why.
America didn’t survive the storm because of green energy. It survived despite it—and that reality nearly came too late.
