The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has recently finalized new rules to help improve reliability of bulk power systems against new threats posed by extreme weather conditions. Such a move remains a priority, as both FERC and NERC – North American Electric Reliability Corp – warn that US power plants remain vulnerable to interruptions during extremely low temperatures, such as those seen during Winter Storm Elliot.
For the 2023 summer, while the majority of the North American bulk power system remains highly reliable, extreme weather events continue to pose the greatest risk to its reliability and resilience, according to the NERC’s 2023 State of Reliability report.