Behind the Scenes: SWEPCO is Winter Weather Ready
At SWEPCO, our storm response starts months before severe weather hits. Behind the scenes, our teams work year-round to strengthen the grid, sharpen response skills and ensure we’re always ready to deliver for our customers.
As of today, we have more than 2,300 linemen, forestry and other employees ready to respond to pending Winter Storm Fern this weekend. Our teams are positioning equipment, testing backup systems, finalizing logistics, and preparing to work around the clock until every customer is restored. Winter Storm Fern is forecasted to bring significant snow, ice and frigid temperatures across the SWEPCO service territory in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.
Strengthening the Distribution System
Work is done year-round to ensure our power distribution system is resilient, which helps limits damage and speed restoration when severe weather strikes.
In 2025 alone, SWEPCO teams:
- Inspected roughly 80,000 utility poles
- Replaced approximately 16,000 poles based on those inspections
- Trimmed more than 1,300-line miles of vegetation to protect equipment and reduce outages
Stronger Power Plants for Stronger Reliability
Our power plants maintain comprehensive continuous improvement plans to ensure reliability no matter the conditions. Teams regularly update cold weather procedures, upgrade equipment and enhance plant resilience so power generation can remain strong through extreme temperatures.
And for customers, there’s another important benefit:
SWEPCO operates a diverse generation fleet located across our three–state territory.
This geographic and resource diversity helps us respond more effectively during severe weather and maintain reliable energy when it’s needed most.
Preparing for Moments That Matter
SWEPCO’s commitment to readiness was front and center in October 2025, when crews from Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas gathered in Bossier City, La., for the latest full-scale storm response drill. The exercise simulated a major ice storm, giving teams an opportunity to rehearse storm response procedures and find efficiencies in preparation for this storm season and the upcoming 2026 Winter Storm Fern.
Crews practiced pre-staging equipment, activating communication channels, coordinating logistics and developing restoration strategies — all under conditions modeled after past winter weather events to ensure rapid response to serve our customers when bad weather arrives.
“Storms are unpredictable,” said Brett Mattison, SWEPCO President and COO. “Training like this ensures we’re ready for the unexpected — and ready to keep the lights on and power flowing for the communities we serve.”
Training is just one piece of SWEPCO’s broad and continuous readiness strategy. Across our three-state service territory, crews, engineers and power plant teams work year-round to build a stronger, more resilient system.
Ready for 2026 Winter Storm Fern
The hands-on drills, year-round grid hardening and continuous improvements at our power plants all point to one goal: ensuring SWEPCO is ready to respond to Winter Storm Fern and any weather that comes our way.
Just as SWEPCO has a plan, we encourage our customers to have a plan, too.
Are you Storm Ready?
A few simple steps can help keep your family safe and informed:
Log into your SWEPCO account
Make sure your contact information — especially your phone number and email — is up to date.
Subscribe to outage alerts
Get real-time outage updates and estimated restoration times.
Review your family’s emergency plan
Think through supplies, medications, communication plans and backup power needs.
Storms will always bring challenges — but through year-round training, grid investments, robust power plant improvements and diversified generation, SWEPCO remains ready to respond and ready to deliver.
For storm preparation and safety tips, visit: swepco.com/safety
MEDIA CONTACTS: SWEPCO Corporate Communications
Amanda Keeney | Michelle Marcotte | Shantell Jordan | Brooke Rinaudo | Amy Schlesing
For media inquiries about power outages, local media matters, power plants, public safety, public policy, regulatory, environmental, and other statewide issues, please call our 24/7 media information line at 318.673.3060. For industry and corporate issues, please contact AEP’s corporate media relations office at 614.716.1000.
About Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO)
Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), headquartered in Shreveport, Louisiana, delivers safe, reliable, and affordable electricity to more than 500,000 customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. SWEPCO is an American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) company. Learn more at SWEPCO.com. Connect with us by following Facebook.com/SWEPCO, Twitter.com/SWEPCOnews, Instagram.com/swepco, Youtube.com/SWEPCOtv and LinkedIn.com/company/swepco.
