North American Grid Faces Rising Reliability Risks

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) releases its 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment on Jan. 29, 2026, warning that summer peak demand could rise by 224 GW and winter demand by 245 GW through 2035. The report attributes most growth to data centers and AI, identifies 13 of 23 regions facing elevated or high adequacy risk, and warns resource additions must accelerate to avoid shortfalls.