NERC says grid reliability 'worsening'; blackout risk rising over next five years

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation said in its annual assessment released Thursday that electric grid reliability across the United States and Canada is "worsening" and that tens of millions of people face a growing risk of blackouts over the next five years. The report said rising electricity demand—led by a boom in data centers—combined with the retirement of older coal- and gas-burning plants and insufficient new generation is driving the risk.

"We are headed for a reliability crisis, except now the crisis is not over the horizon, but across the street," Mark Christie, a former U.S. federal grid regulator, said in response to the report. The people most at risk in the next five years are in areas of Texas, the upper Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic region and the Pacific Northwest, the report said.

In a worst-case scenario, shortages could produce life-threatening blackouts during intense heat waves or cold snaps; the report cited the 2021 Texas winter storm, when the state suffered extensive blackouts and more than 200 people died. The report has fed an ongoing political debate.

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