Extreme Natural Events

Severe Winter Storms

On December 17, 2025, winter storms brought snow and high winds to the Pacific Northwest. More than 800,000 customers were without power at the storm's peak, including 130,000 in British Columbia, 101,000 in Montana, 221,000 in Oregon, and 357,000 in Washington. However, the bulk power system remained stable through the event.

Los Angeles County Wildfires

An active fire period began in early January 2025 when three significant Santa Ana Wind events occurred in southern California. From January 7–24, extreme winds exceeded 100 mph at times, and the fire risk was compounded by low humidity. Several wildfires started in quick succession, leaving devastation and customer outages in a large area of Los Angeles and the surrounding communities. The two biggest fires, the Palisades and Eaton fires, burned almost 38,000 acres combined and resulted in over 30 fatalities and 16,000 structures destroyed. The distribution and sub-transmission systems were affected significantly, with the bulk power system remaining stable despite impacts to many high-voltage transmission lines.

A large part of ensuring system stability during these fires was the effort of the Reliability Coordinator, Balancing Authorities, and Transmission Operators in positioning the system to minimize the impact of contingencies associated with the fires. In addition, entities used tools such as PSPS programs to prevent electric equipment from becoming a source of ignition.

Wildfires Throughout 2025

Overall, the number of acres burned by wildfires in the Western Interconnection was down by 3.5 million acres in 2025 compared to 2024 (10.1 million in 2024, 6.5 million in 2025).

• January 7, 2025 — The Palisades, Hurst, and Eaton wildfires (Los Angeles and Southern California areas) affected several transmission lines along with several thousand customers.
• May 29, 2025 — The Frazier Wildfire interrupted a major 500-kV path, causing the grid to operate in Potential Open Loop Operations.
• June 10, 2025 — The Ranch Fire in San Bernadino County threatened multiple high-voltage transmission lines.
• June 19, 2025 — The Rancho Fire caused the outage of many 230-kV lines in northern California combined with the 500-kV lines out of service, subsequently putting the grid into Potential Open Loop Operations.
• August 2, 2025 — Three fires (Lee, Grease, and Elk) near Meeker, Colorado, were ignited by lightning. The Lee and Grease fires combined into the Lee Fire, and the Lee and Elk fires together burned over 137,000 acres by August 19 affecting many transmission lines in the area.

The WECC Wildfire Risk Dashboard provides information on current wildfires and bulk power system elements at risk. The interactive format allows users to explore rich data on wildfires across the West.

Action on Wildfires

In June 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) titled Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response, which focused on encouraging local preparedness and response and streamlining federal wildfire capabilities. Following the EO, FERC convened a Wildfire Risk Mitigation Technical Conference in October 2025 to solicit input from subject matter experts on the topics outlined in the EO. FERC also issued an order directing NERC to submit a report on best practices to reduce the risk of wildfire ignition from the BPS in May 2026. In early 2026, WECC hosted a workshop of ERO enterprise staff and the National Academy of Engineering focused on industry best practices for wildfire mitigation, which were incorporated into the report. Electricity Canada and NERC held a similar workshop in Calgary in April.

Public Safety Power Shutoffs Increase

As wildfires continue to threaten the West, many entities are including PSPS in their wildfire mitigation plans. In 2025, there were 31 entities with plans that included PSPS, nearly double the number of entities with PSPS plans in 2024 (16).

During 2025, six entities initiated their PSPS programs for a total of 21 PSPS events. Though the number of PSPS events went down from 2024, the number of customers affected increased by nearly 150%.

Revised Standard

EOP-012-3 requires Generator Owners and Generator Operators to develop and implement plans to mitigate reliability impacts of extreme cold weather on its applicable generating units. Modifications made in response to FERC recommendations following the February 2021 cold weather event that affected millions of customers in Texas. The effective date was October 1, 2025.

New Standard

TPL-008-1 improves the way Planning Coordinators and Transmission Planners prepare for the potential impacts of extreme temperatures on the transmission system. The effective date was April 1, 2026.

Revised Standard

IRO-010-6 requires applicable entities to submit data to Reliability Coordinators (RC) so each RC can plan, monitor, and assess the operation of its Reliability Coordinator Area. This version includes FERC Order 901 modifications to include Inverter-based Resources. NERC Board of Trustees approved in October 2025, not yet FERC approved.

Revised Standard

TOP-003-7 requires each Transmission Operator and Balancing Authority to have the data and information needed to plan, monitor, and assess the operation of its Transmission Operator Area or Balancing Authority Area. This version includes taking weather and environmental constraints into account on bulk electric system generating unit status. Effective date is October 1, 2026.