A BGE substation in Maryland | Tonyglen14, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Common

February 7, 2025

Happy Friday from ERO Insider, your source for the latest news from the world of electric reliability! We’ve got a great group of stories for you this week, so let’s hop right in and see what’s been happening.

A neo-Nazi leader is heading to prison this week after a jury convicted him of plotting attacks on electrical facilities in Baltimore that he hoped would spark riots in the city. Holden Mann has more on the case and the next steps for Brandon Russell. (See Neo-Nazi Convicted in Baltimore Grid Attack Conspiracy.) 

After the grid made it through last month’s cold snap with no major issues, FERC and NERC plan to review registered entities’ performance to see what went right — and whether any improvements could be made. Follow the link for details on the commission and the ERO’s decision. (See FERC, NERC Praise Grid Performance in Cold Snap.) 

NERC told FERC this week that there are more than 850 inverter-based resources across the North American grid that may need to be registered with the ERO. Click through to learn more about the criteria for registration and when the work is expected to be completed. (See NERC Updates FERC on IBR Registration Progress.) 

Speaking of IBRs, we’ve also got a message from Terry Brinker, CEO of Reliable Energy Advisors, for operators of those newly registered IBRs who are newcomers to the world of NERC reliability standards. He’s got a primer on the new NERC rules, and steps for new registrants, after the jump. (See  Stakeholder Soapbox: Preparing for NERC Registration and Compliance with New IBR Rules.) 

Thanks again for joining us for this week’s updates! We’ve got a busy week coming up, with NERC’s Board of Trustees and Member Representatives Committee meeting in Miami. 

Upcoming Stakeholder Meetings:

• 2/10/25: Technical Talk with RF
• 2/11/25: Talk with Texas RE: GridEx Planning
• 2/12/25: NERC Board of Trustees/Member Representative Committee Meetings
• 2/12/25: NERC Technology and Security Committee Open Meeting
• 2/12/25: NERC Regulatory Oversight Committee Open Meeting
  
• 2/12/25: NERC Finance and Audit Committee Open Meeting
  
• 2/12/25: NERC Technical Session
  
• 2/13/25: NERC Member Representatives Committee Open Meeting
  
• 2/13/25: NERC Board of Trustees Open Meeting