January 30, 2026 - The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which is responsible for monitoring the reliability of the electricity grid, has issued its annual Long-Term Reliability Assessment. The LTRA assesses the risk of electricity shortages across the United States. Michelle Bloodworth, president and CEO of America’s Power, released the following statement:

Michelle Bloodworth

“The new LTRA is another sobering wakeup call for energy officials and electricity consumers. NERC, grid officials, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are only some of the experts that have been warning us for several years about the risk of blackouts. Yet the risk keeps increasing. For the first time, families and businesses in half the U.S. face a high risk of blackouts. One of the primary reasons for this dangerous situation is the premature retirement of coal power plants. Another is the rapid growth of energy-intensive data centers.

“Utilities have announced plans to retire more than a fourth of the nation’s coal power plants over the next five years. Most of these retiring coal plants are located in high-risk regions. Unless these retirement plans are reversed, the grid will lose an energy-secure, affordable, and reliable source of baseload power. Coal power plants have been critical to keeping the lights on during Winter Storm Fern, just as they have during past winter storms. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coal power plants increased their electricity production during Fern more than any other source of electricity.

“We also want to thank NERC and others for their hard work to keep the lights on.”