America’s crumbling power grid: how 180-year-old technology left hundreds of thousands without power during winter storm fern

Winter Storm Fern’s devastating impact across the South revealed a shocking truth about America’s electrical infrastructure: we’re still relying on the same basic wooden pole system that Samuel Morse pioneered in 1843. While power plants weathered the storm successfully—whether running on renewable energy or fossil fuels—hundreds of thousands of customers lost electricity when aging poles and transmission lines failed under ice and wind.

The Tennessee Valley Authority alone saw more than two dozen transmission lines topple, while Entergy reported losing 860 poles and 60 substations across Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. This infrastructure failure, rather than energy generation problems, has become the primary driver of rising electricity costs nationwide. As Costa Samaras from Carnegie Mellon University explains, “That last mile of the grid is extremely vulnerable” due to old equipment that breaks under extreme weather events.

The solution isn’t simple or cheap. While composite poles made from fiberglass can withstand hurricane-force winds and last longer than wood, they cost five times more upfront—$5,000 versus $1,000 for traditional wooden poles. Some utilities are exploring repurposing old wind turbine blades to reduce costs, while experts recommend strategic battery placement and eventually burying power lines underground.

With extreme weather events becoming more frequent and intense, America faces a critical choice: continue patching a 19th-century system or invest billions in modernizing the “boring infrastructure” that keeps the lights on. As recent storms have proven, the most advanced power plants are useless if the poles carrying electricity to homes can’t survive the weather.