NPCC Summer Reliability Assessment Forecasts Adequate Electricity Supplies Across Northeastern North America

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Northeast Power Coordinating Council, Inc. (NPCC) 2026 Summer Reliability Assessment forecasts that the region will have an adequate supply of electricity this summer. This assessment covers New York, New England, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

The expected coincident electricity summer peak demand forecast is approximately 105,000 MW, slightly higher (by 400 MW) than last summer’s forecast. The region is projected to have about 158,000 MW of installed capacity available to meet its electricity demand. The summer 2026 installed capacity is approximately 1,700 MW higher than last summer, in part due to the additional gas and storage facilities expected to be available in Ontario. NPCC’s resultant spare operable capacity (capacity over and above reserve requirements) is estimated to range from 6,700 MW to over 15,000 MW.

System reliability was assessed for a variety of stressed system conditions, including:

• higher than expected demand;
• demand forecast uncertainty;
• unexpected generator plant outages;
• transmission constraints within the NPCC region and neighboring areas; and,
• additional capacity unavailability coupled with reduced transfer capabilities.

“From the broader regional perspective, the NPCC assessment shows that the region has sufficient transmission capability and the resources needed to reliably meet its summer peak demand for a wide range of system conditions,” said Charles Dickerson, NPCC President and Chief Executive Officer. “If needed, established operating procedures are available to maintain reliability and keep supply and demand in balance.”

New England, the state of New York, and the Canadian Provinces of Ontario, Québec, and the Maritimes are forecasted to have adequate supplies of electricity this summer. Due to its winter peaking nature, Québec is expected to meet forecast electricity demand by a wide margin enabling transfers of surplus electricity supplies to other areas of the region.

“Recently completed transmission projects in New York and New England have reinforced overall regional reliability for this summer,” said Phil Fedora, NPCC Chief Engineer and Senior Vice President of External Affairs.

Throughout the summer, NPCC will continue to monitor the operating conditions of the Bulk Power System. As part of these efforts, NPCC conducts daily, week-ahead and as-needed calls between system operators and neighboring regions to communicate current operating conditions, coordinate planned maintenance, and facilitate the procurement of assistance under emergency conditions. In addition, NPCC supports industry-wide reliability and security coordination efforts to promote communications, awareness, and information sharing.

Solar storms are expected to occur again this summer. NPCC’s grid operators are prepared to initiate their procedures designed to mitigate the effects of geomagnetic disturbances on the power system, as required.

NPCC Reliability Assessments are available at Resources | NPCC.

About NPCC

Northeast Power Coordinating Council, Inc. is one of six Regional Entities located throughout the United States, Canada, and portions of Mexico that, in concert with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, seeks to assure a highly reliable, resilient, and secure North American Bulk Power System through the effective and efficient identification, reduction, and mitigation of reliability risks. NPCC’s geographic area includes the six New England states, the State of New York, the provinces of Ontario, Québec, and the Canadian Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Overall, NPCC covers an area of nearly 1.2 million square miles, populated by approximately 62 million people.

NPCC carries out its mission through: (i) the development of regional reliability standards and compliance assessment and enforcement of continent-wide and Regional Reliability standards; (ii) coordination of system planning, design and operations, and assessment of reliability; and (iii) the establishment of Regionally-specific criteria and monitoring and enforcement of compliance with such criteria.