By Robert Walton of UtilityDive

Stakeholders across the U.S. electric sector are preparing for Winter Storm Fern, which is expected to impact an area stretching from Texas to New York, as far north as the upper Midwest and into parts of the Southeast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration anticipates the storm to begin today and run through Sunday.

Anticipating widespread power outages, local distribution utilities have been activating recovery plans and warning customers to be prepared. The North American Electric Reliability Corp. says it is "encouraged that industry has taken actions to prepare for what appears to be a very challenging winter storm system."

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has asked grid operators to be prepared to utilize up to 35 GW of backup generation.