ATLANTA – In its 2020–2021 Winter Reliability Assessment, NERC finds sufficient resource capacity is in place across North America to meet winter demand. Noting how extreme weather can challenge grid reliability in specific areas, the assessment closely examines this reliability risk and identifies higher risk areas that are susceptible to emergency operating actions.
During extreme and prolonged winter conditions, vital natural-gas fuel supplies for electricity generation can be at risk in New England, California and the southwestern United States. High reliance on natural gas-fired generation and limited natural gas infrastructure elevates reliability risk in these areas.
For this assessment, NERC analyzed severe weather scenarios that incorporated generation outages under peak load conditions. NERC noted particular reliability risk in areas within the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the Canadian Maritimes, Texas, the Rocky Mountain Reserve Group and the Northwest Power Pool.
Full Announcement | 2020–2021 Winter Reliability Assessment
