A satellite image taken on Jan. 22, 2025, shows an arc of snow across the Gulf and Atlantic coasts in the Southeastern U.S. | NOAA

April 18, 2025

Happy Friday from ERO Insider! We hope your tax filings went smoothly and with as little irritation as possible. Now that the pressure’s off, let’s check in with our correspondents and see the news they’ve been following in the world of electric reliability.  

Grid operators made a major effort to prepare for the winter storms of January 2025, and a new report from FERC and NERC says their efforts paid off when the storms passed with no manual load shed. Holden Mann has a look at the analysis and presentation from this week’s FERC meeting, and why the authors say there’s still room for improvement from the electric and natural gas industries. (See FERC, NERC Say Grid Winter Recommendations Working.) 

FERC’s monthly open meeting also hosted a briefing from one of NERC’s leaders on recent reliability incidents related to data centers in Virginia and cryptocurrency mining facilities in Texas, and the ERO’s efforts to address them. Click through for James Downing’s take on the presentation. (See Data Centers’ Reliability Impacts Examined at FERC Meeting.) 

Winter’s wrapped up for this year, but that means wildfire season is right around the corner, and utilities in the West are hoping new technology and lessons from last year’s fires in Los Angeles can help mitigate the risk. Henrik Nilsson spoke with staff from Western utilities about the challenges coming up, and he’s got more inside. (See Western Utilities Prep for Wildfire Season with New Initiatives, Tech.) 

Pacific Gas and Electric is also working to prevent wildfires with a new three-year mitigation plan incorporating both old and new strategies. Elaine Goodman has a closer look after the link. (See PG&E Wildfire Plan Relies on Proven Strategies, Newer Tech.) 

NERC’s Standards Committee held its own monthly meeting this week as well, where members agreed to post several proposed reliability standards for public comment and balloting. Follow the link to see why attendees had some concerns about the planned timelines for the postings. (See NERC Standards Committee Approves IBR Posting.) 

Thanks again for joining us this week! We’ll be back with another email next Friday, but don’t forget to check back throughout the week for the latest updates from the ERO Enterprise and beyond. Have a safe and happy weekend, and we’ll see you later! 

Upcoming Stakeholder Meetings:

• 4/21/25: Technical Talk with RF
• 4/23/25: Spring Standards, Security, & Reliability Workshop
  
• 4/24/25: Risk-Based Compliance and Self-Reporting Guidance: Process Changes Webinar