NERC 2026 Summer Reliability Assessment Finds Elevated Risk for New England, the Northwest, and Texas

On May 19, 2026, NERC released the 2026 Summer Reliability Assessment (SRA), which found that while record resource additions have strengthened readiness for the summer season, elevated risks remain in New England, the Northwest, Texas, and parts of Canada.

NERC's 2026 SRA provides an independent outlook on grid reliability conditions across North America and helps industry prepare for the evolving factors shaping the summer reliability landscape. The SRA covers the upcoming four-month (June-September) summer period. This assessment evaluates generation resource and transmission system adequacy as well as energy sufficiency to meet projected summer peak demands and operating reserves. Additionally, this assessment identifies potential reliability issues of interest and regional topics of concern. While the scope of this seasonal assessment is focused on the upcoming summer, the key findings are consistent with risks and issues that NERC highlighted in the 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment (LTRA), which covers a 10-year horizon, and other earlier reliability assessments and reports.

Resources for the 2026 SRA include the full, detailed report and a summer reliability snapshot to get a quick overview.

NERC will hold a webinar briefing for policymakers on May 26, 2026, from 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET to discuss the findings from the 2026 Summer Reliability Assessment. To join, please register here.