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FERC–NERC review: January Arctic storms drove record demand but avoided manual load shedding
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Summary
A joint FERC–NERC report finds January 2025 Arctic storms drove record winter peaks in gas and electricity demand but—thanks to improved coordination, generator commitments and gas storage—manual load sheds were not required; the report will be published to the agencies' websites later today.
A joint review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation found that a series of January 2025 Arctic storms produced record winter demand for both natural gas and electricity but did not require manual load shedding.
"We do have some good news to report to you today," Matthew Lewis of NERC told commissioners during the presentation, summarizing the team's findings that system operators and the gas sector generally met the unusually high winter loads. The report, set for publication on the Commission and NERC websites later today, shows natural gas demand peaked at about 150 billion cubic feet per day and that winter electric demand reached record levels (NERC cited roughly 678 gigawatts). Reported unplanned generator outages peaked at about 71,022 megawatts on Jan. 22, 2025, but manual load shed was not required.
The presentation and commissioners' discussion credited several operational improvements with preventing outages from becoming widespread. FERC staff said increased commitments by generators, better coordination between pipeline and electric operators, improved forecasting and targeted use of gas storage all reduced risk. Robert Clark of FERC's Office of Electric Reliability and Matthew Lewis of NERC described examples including earlier declaration of conservative operations, returning key transmission lines to service, and pipelines increasing line pack to sustain pressures.
Commissioners pressed presenters on the role of interregional transfers and forecasting. "Interregional transfers help neighboring balancing authorities," Kyle Lyons of NERC said, citing PJM's export of 7,650 megawatts to neighboring systems during the storms. Commissioners also highlighted improvements in load forecasting: NERC reported participating entities had peak‑day forecast errors well below double digits, avoiding the large under-forecast errors that contributed to problems in previous storms.
Chairman Christie and others pointed to the Mountain Valley Pipeline as an example of how additional pipeline capacity supported natural gas availability during the event. "The Mountain Valley Pipeline...played a crucial role in maintaining reliable natural gas supply," the chairman said; he also noted the pipeline’s lengthy permitting and litigation history and congressional steps that helped advance construction.
The joint report reiterates prior recommendations from the winter storm Uri and Elliott reviews and a 2023 Black Start study and calls for continued coordination between gas and electric sectors, wider implementation of proven operational practices and tracking of implementation via public dashboards. The Commission indicated the report will be posted to its Reliability Spotlight and related materials will be available for further review.
Next steps: the joint January 2025 Arctic events report will be published on the Commission and NERC websites, and commissioners signaled continued oversight of interconnection and gas‑electric coordination work going forward.
