Winter Storm Fern in Pictures: Line Crews in the Spotlight

When Winter Storm Fern knocked out power and caused damage throughout the Southwest, the Mid-Atlantic, and into the Northeast, line crews packed their bags, stocked their trucks, and hit the road. According to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), more than 65,000 mutual assistance workers from 44 states responded to the storm. 

As of Jan. 31, EEI reported that power had been restored to more than 865,000 customers through around-the-clock restoration efforts. 

"Industry crews continue working through challenging conditions to restore power safely and as quickly as possible to every customer who is able to receive it," said EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney. "The massive mutual assistance mobilization, strong cross-industry coordination, and industry-government partnership have enabled this effective response, as have our companies' grid strengthening investments."
 
Challenges, however, still remain. For example, lineworkers faced dangerously cold temperatures, treacherous roads and falling trees and branches, according to EEI. As a result, they had to take significant safety precautions. In many cases, trees fell in areas that had already been restored, causing new outages for line crews. 

As lineworkers spend time away from their families in harsh weather conditions to restore power to as many customers as possible, we are dedicating this photo gallery to these heroes and first responders. EEI shared these photos with T&D World through regular email updates, and now we are sharing them with our community to put the lineworkers in the spotlight.

We plan to cover this storm in our April 2026 issue of T&D World. If you have any photos or stories you'd like to share about the storm response, please email Amy Fischbach, Head of Content for T&D World and host of the Line Life Podcast. We look forward to hearing from you.