Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTMarlene WildenThu, June 4, 2026 at 11:41 AM GMT+2 3 min readThis story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. Dive Brief:A recent report by Energy Ventures Analysis for the Natural Gas Council concluded that reforms implemented following Winter Storm Uri in 2021 helped insulate the electric grid from outages during Winter Storm Fern in January, even amid near-record consumption driven by sustained cold across the Central and Eastern U.S. The report credited winterization investments, flexible liquefied natural gas operations and large-scale storage withdrawals with helping to maintain system reliability during the event, noting that storage supplied roughly 30% of total U.S. gas demand during peak periods. Although the report found improvements have been made to the interconnected energy system since 2021, it also concluded “the full stress test of post-Uri improvements has not yet occurred under Uri-level temperature conditions,” and continued effort is needed. The authors recommended stronger gas-electric coordination, including firmer fuel assurance for generators, protections for critical gas infrastructure during grid emergencies and continued investment in pipeline and storage capacity. Dive Insight:At more than 40%, gas is the largest single source of electricity generation in the U.S. The findings come as utilities and regulators head into summer storm season and grapple with how to balance rapid load growth from electrification, data centers and industrial demand against increasingly weather-driven system stress. Pawan Vaswani, vice president of energy and commodities strategy at AI platform developer Publicis Sapient, speaking independently of the report, said operators need a better understanding of where bottlenecks could emerge across interconnected energy systems during extreme conditions.“Weather events tend to expose dependencies that may not be apparent under normal operating conditions,” Vaswani told Utility Dive in an email. “[A] constraint in one part of the system can create pressure across the rest of the value chain.” As many utilities and hyperscalers invest in new gas-fired generation, the EVA report adds to ongoing discussions over whether reliability planning should account not only for generation capacity but also for the pipeline and storage infrastructure that supplies those plants. Among other things, the report, “Holding the Line: U.S. Natural Gas Performance During Winter Storm Fern,” called for electric market design reforms to encourage electric generators to secure firm capacity and services commensurate with their fuel security obligations, rather than rely on interruptible arrangements.Terms and Privacy PolicyPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info