Despite the significant impacts of Winter Storm Fern, PECO’s electric and natural gas systems performed with exceptional reliability, delivering safe and reliable service for customers across the company’s service area during one of the most challenging winter weather events in nearly a decade. At the same time, the company has continued its strong focus on maintaining affordability for customers, ensuring that critical investments are made responsibly and with customer costs top of mind.
Winter Storm Fern delivered heavy snowfall, ice, sleet, and prolonged hazardous conditions across the region, placing considerable stress on electric and natural gas infrastructure throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Thanks to years of proactive planning, system hardening, and targeted infrastructure investments, PECO maintained strong service performance. Crews and system operators worked around the clock, responding quickly to localized issues and ensuring customers experienced minimal disruption.
“Severe weather events like Winter Storm Fern show just how essential a reliable, modern energy grid is for our customers,” said David Vahos, PECO’s President and CEO. “PECO works year-round testing equipment and investing strategically to enhance reliability and storm-readiness across our system to deliver when it’s needed the most.”
Over recent years, PECO has made significant progress modernizing the local grid, strengthening substations, reinforcing electric distribution lines, installing hundreds of smart devices that automatically reroute power, replacing aging natural gas lines, and expanding the company’s liquified natural gas facility — all to deliver the safe and reliable service customers count on. These investments have helped reduce outage frequency and duration, while helping to ensure the electricity and natural gas is available when customers need it most. Every investment the company makes is evaluated with both system performance and customer affordability in mind.
Winter Storm Fern underscored that reliability cannot be taken for granted. As customer energy needs evolve and the reliance on a stable and reliable energy grid increases, PECO is planning additional, forward-looking improvements to support advanced automation, renewable energy integration like solar and battery storage, and the growing need for real-time grid visibility. These steps will be essential to maintaining — and strengthening — the high level of service customers experienced during this storm.
“Customers expect electric and natural gas services that can stand up to severe weather and support the evolving energy future at the same time,” said Vahos. “We’re investing in smarter tools, stronger and more modern infrastructure, and improved visibility across the system, while keeping affordability at the center of every decision.”
In the wake of Winter Storm Fern, the area continues to grapple with extreme cold weather that will continue to test infrastructure. PECO employees continue to monitor systems and take necessary actions to ensure reliable energy during this time of extreme energy demand.
Learn more about PECO and how it delivers power to nearly 1.7 million electric customers and more than 545,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania.
