State Energy Insights: November 2025
Grid Reliability and Regulatory Updates from ReliabilityFirst
News & Updates
FERC holds annual Reliability Technical Conference
FERC held its annual Reliability Technical Conference on Oct. 21. The conference opened with comments from the commissioners, who discussed the critical importance of reliability issues and risks posed by data centers and large load growth.
NERC President & CEO Jim Robb then presented on the State of Reliability, noting that while reliability remains high, there is an increasing number of near misses and a “five alarm fire” with risks related to resource adequacy, permitting issues, extreme weather, natural gas interdependencies, demand growth, and security.
The first panel focused on leadership priorities, with panelists from NERC, Vistra Corp., NARUC, Invenergy, AEP, ComEd, and Duke Energy. The industry leaders shared solutions they are employing, such as uprating power plants for additional capacity and utilizing Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs).
During the second panel, “Ensuring Reliability with Large Loads,” NERC Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer Mark Lauby shared the various actions the ERO is taking to address reliability risks posed by rapidly increasing large loads, including a NERC alert with guidance on interconnecting loads and ongoing work of the NERC Large Loads Taskforce. There was discussion among the panelists on the importance of certainty and being able to plan for the amount of large loads coming online, and the need for robust modeling and load forecasting. A full recording of the conference is available here.
Federal and State Current Issues Collaborative meeting on energy permitting postponed
Due to the government shutdown, FERC postponed the next meeting of the Federal and State Current Issues Collaborative from Nov. 12 to February 2026 during the NARUC Winter Summit.
The collaborative was created by FERC and the state public utility commissions across the country to discuss and explore cross-jurisdictional issues of interest. FERC has stated that the topic of the meeting will be energy infrastructure permitting, and a more detailed agenda will be released in the future.
DOE issues Notice of Funding Opportunity for coal plant refurbishing
The DOE on Oct. 31 announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for up to $100 million in federal funding to refurbish and modernize the nation’s existing coal power plants.
The funding will be administered by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory under the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. The NOFO solicits proposals in three technical areas: advanced wastewater management, dual-fuel switching capability, and coal-natural gas cofiring systems.
This follows DOE’s announcement on Sept. 29 of a $625 million broader investment across multiple coal-related initiatives, including plant recommissioning, rural electrification projects, and related infrastructure support. The current NOFO represents a subset of that September funding stream, with specific technical deliverables and performance milestones tied to demonstration-scale projects.
Upcoming Events
Nov. 17, 2-3:30 p.m. ET | Tech Talk with RF
Join us for our next edition of Tech Talk on Monday, Nov. 17. Here’s what’s on the agenda:
Supply chain challenges
Jeff Craigo, Senior Vice President, Operations and Risk, RF
Eric Seidler, SVP, Corporate Safety, Security and Operational Oversight, Ameren
Jeff Craigo and Eric Seidler will discuss the impact of supply chain challenges on electric grid reliability, including equipment lead times, tariffs, the labor market, and mitigation strategies. The Bulk Electric System (BES) is not immune to supply chain risks, which can compromise or impact the availability of equipment, tools, and resources that results in the delay or disruption of system operations.
CIP standards update
Lew Folkerth, Principal Reliability Consultant, External Affairs, RF
FERC announced action in three areas of the CIP standards in September. Lew will provide a summary of these actions and a discussion of the status of other CIP development efforts.
Feb. 25-26, 2026 | ERO Women’s Leadership Conference
You won’t want to miss the 2026 ERO Women’s Leadership Conference! ReliabilityFirst is hosting next year’s event in-person in Cleveland, with an evening reception on Feb. 25 followed by the conference on Feb. 26.
We are thrilled to present an exciting lineup of speakers, including:
- Joanna McDaniel Burkey, Principal, Flat Rock Strategic Advisors
- Lesley Evancho, Chief Human Resources Officer, EQT Corporation
- Mèlika Carroll, VP of Global Government Affairs and Public Policy, Cohere
- Lisa Barton, President & CEO, Alliant Energy
- Sara Patrick, President & CEO, Midwest Reliability Organization
- Bluma Sussman, VP, Stakeholder Engagement, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)/E-ISAC
- Holly Hawkins, VP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, SERC Reliability Corporation
- Diane Holder, VP of Engineering & Strategic Engagement, RF
- Niki Schaefer, VP & General Counsel, RF
- Beth Dowdell, Senior Director of Corporate Services, RF
- Sarah Eppink, MOD, BCC, Leadership Coach and Talent Development Consultant, Aisling Group
- Julia Kious Zabell, Executive Director of Weatherhead Executive Education, Case Western Reserve University
- Chris Guiney, Partner, CarterBaldwin Executive Search
- Tod Podl, Physician, University Hospitals
State Energy Insights from ReliabilityFirst: November 2025