The North American Electric Reliability Corporation recently published the 2025 Summer Reliability Assessment, showing load growth that is expected to drive higher peak demand this summer and could strain resources in some areas during certain periods. Aggregated peak demand is forecast to increase across all 23 assessment areas by 10 GW- more than double the increase from 2023-2024.
Factors such as new data centers, increased electrification, and industrial activity are contributing to higher demand forecasts. Other variables include predicted periods of wide area higher than normal heat, periods of low wind and solar output, and retirement of natural-gas-fired and coal-fired generators.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright recently issued an emergency order to minimize the risk of blackouts and address critical grid security issues in the Midwestern region of the U.S. The order directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) to ensure that a 1,560 MW coal-fired plant in Michigan, previously scheduled to shut-down on May 31, remains available for operation.
Other regions of concern during extreme summer conditions identified in the Summer Reliability Assessment include NPCC-New England, MRO-SaskPower, MRO-SPP, Texas RE-ERCOT, and WECC-Mexico.
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