UNITED STATES - JANUARY 25: Architect of the Capitol grounds workers wide snowfall from the steps starring down to the Capitol Visitor Center entranceway of the U.S. Capitol gathering arsenic Winter Storm Fern dumps snowfall and sleet connected the Washington country connected Sunday, January 25, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Bill Clark | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
U.S. natural state prices surged supra $6 for the archetypal clip since precocious 2022 connected Monday arsenic a immense wintertime tempest swept crossed the country, leaving hundreds of thousands without powerfulness and forcing wide formation cancellations.
Natural state futures for February transportation traded 18% higher, oregon 95 cents, to $6.2 per cardinal British thermal units astatine 8:15 a.m. London clip (3:15 a.m. ET), notching a caller 52-week high.
It is the archetypal clip the contract, which is up astir 68% year-to-date, has climbed supra the $6 level since Dec. 2022, erstwhile European demand for U.S. liquefied earthy state soared pursuing Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine earlier successful the year.
More than 822,000 customers were near without powerfulness successful the aftermath of a monolithic wintertime tempest precocious Sunday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, which collects real-time powerfulness outage information from utilities nationwide.
More than 12,500 flights were canceled successful the U.S. connected Sunday, FlightAware reported, with a further 3,965 canceled truthful acold connected Monday. Delta Air Lines, which had antecedently urged travelers to rebook flights, said Sunday that it intended to run a reduced docket arsenic icy conditions disrupted operations.
The large freeze, known arsenic Winter Storm Fern, was forecast to bring wide dense snowfall and "catastrophic crystal accumulations" from the confederate Rocky Mountains to New England done the weekend, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), affecting astatine slightest 180 cardinal radical successful 37 states.
Wind chills arsenic debased arsenic -50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45.56 degrees Celsius) volition persist crossed the eastbound two-thirds of the U.S. this week, the NWS said successful a societal media station connected Sunday, with temperatures acold beneath mean expected to proceed into aboriginal February.
The utmost acold has been blamed for the deaths of 7 radical nationwide, NBC News reported, citing section officials.
Architect of the Capitol grounds crews wide snowfall from the East Front of the U.S. Capitol gathering arsenic Winter Storm Fern dumps snowfall and sleet connected the Washington country connected Sunday, January 25, 2026.
Bill Clark | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The U.S. Department of Energy connected Monday issued 2 exigency orders to mitigate blackouts successful New England and Texas, seeking to support grids unchangeable and minimize the hazard of blackouts.
"As Winter Storm Fern brings utmost acold and unsafe conditions crossed the country, maintaining affordable, reliable, and unafraid powerfulness is non-negotiable," U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said successful a connection connected Monday.
Power outages are estimated to outgo the U.S. astir $44 cardinal per year, according to data from the DOE's National Laboratories.
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