Grid Transformation Risk Element

The electric grid is experiencing unprecedented change, and industry, policy makers, and regulators are moving quickly to keep ahead. Rapid integration of large loads, the acceleration of inverter-based resource (IBR) penetration, and the proliferation of new technologies are transforming the electric grid as it has been known. “Moving at the speed of risk” is not a slogan – it is a reality.

This reality is unfolding in near real-time. For example, last year saw twelve incidents in the ERCOT Interconnection related to IBR ride-through capabilities. Accelerating the likelihood of more such events is the fact that Texas RE currently registers one new IBR every five days, on average, without even counting the Category 2 entities that entered the registry last month.

Similarly, 2025 saw twelve ride-through incidents involving large loads. Rapid load growth overall, including large computational loads, presents additional challenges to system modeling, transmission planning, and real-time operations. To meet increasing demand (and more complex demand patterns), resource adequacy assessments now consider all hours of the day during all seasons.

These and other developments have led the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) Enterprise to create a new risk element for the 2026 Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program Implementation Plan (CMEP IP): Grid Transformation. Unlike risk elements in previous versions of the CMEP IP, Grid Transformation does not address a single discrete risk, but rather a collection of challenges to system reliability. This collection includes:

• Resource adequacy
• Voltage and frequency fluctuations
• Interconnection and modeling
• Workforce adequacy
• Aggregation of control

Texas RE compliance oversight activities are moving quickly and intentionally to meet the new challenges. As part of the compliance planning process, Texas RE carefully reviews each applicable risk for every entity that has an upcoming engagement. The broad scope of the Grid Transformation Risk Element ensures that virtually every audit addresses at least one of the risks described above. In this way and in many others, Texas RE is working with registered entities to mitigate the rapidly developing risks to the ERCOT Interconnection.