The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) have established a partnership aimed at strengthening the reliability of the North American bulk power system. The collaboration is designed to leverage complementary strengths of both organizations to address evolving challenges facing the electrical grid that serves more than 400 million people across North America.
The partnership will focus initially on integrating NERC’s high-resolution data and detailed asset location information into NLR’s grid-modeling systems. This integration is expected to enable researchers to develop more detailed representations of the power system and conduct more sophisticated analyses of emerging reliability concerns. Officials from both organizations indicated that the collaboration will support the development of new methodologies for power system planning and reliability assessment that can be adopted across the broader industry.
NLR leadership emphasized that the partnership creates an opportunity to apply decades of research investments into practical solutions for current grid challenges. NERC’s director of Reliability Assessments and Performance Analysis noted that combining NERC’s expertise in reliability standards and monitoring with NLR’s advanced research capabilities will enhance analytical capacity and improve coordination on reliability research initiatives.
The partnership builds on an established relationship between the organizations, including collaborative efforts through NERC events and technical exchanges. Recent discussions between grid reliability researchers from both institutions, including a visit in November 2025, laid groundwork for expanded collaboration. Researchers from both organizations expressed enthusiasm about opportunities for bidirectional knowledge sharing, particularly regarding probabilistic assessments and forward-looking resource adequacy methodologies that could benefit the industry.
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