Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) recently hosted its 2025 Reliability, Security, and CMEP Summit at the Omni Hotel in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This highly anticipated two-day hybrid event, designed around navigating the evolving power grid, brought together industry leaders, experts, and stakeholders from across the region to discuss key issues impacting the reliability and security of the North American bulk power system. The theme of collaboration and unity was woven throughout all agenda topics, underscoring the collective effort needed to improve grid resilience.
The summit featured morning plenary sessions for all attendees, with specialized breakout tracks in the afternoon on technical topics. Participants took advantage of the many invaluable networking opportunities throughout the event.
Beyond key discussions on regulatory compliance, the summit highlighted the following critical focus areas from MRO’s 2025 Regional Risk Assessment:
- Uncertain energy availability
- Supply chain resilience
- Inverter-based resource and distributed energy resource performance
- Physical and cyber security
The distinguished lineup of plenary session speakers and topics included:
- Sara Patrick,President and CEO of MRO, reflected on ERO Enterprise activities that have strengthened the reliability and security of the bulk power system since the passing of the 2005 Energy Policy Act.
- Jim Robb, President and CEO of NERC, spoke on the challenges NERC is monitoring and the collaborative efforts shaping the future of the electricity sector.
- Mark Tiemeier, Director of Power System Risk Management at MRO, reviewed the top focus areas for MRO based on the findings of the organization’s 2025 Regional Risk Assessment.
- Dr. Jenny Susser, PhD, All-American athlete and Olympic team coach, shared insights on building resilient teams, focusing on refueling energy and purpose to improve performance.
- Antoine Lucas, Executive Vice President and COO of Southwest Power Pool (SPP), discussed the transformation of the regional power grid and SPP’s sustainable success.
- Christopher Hart, President & CEO of Hart Solutions and former NTSB Chairman, provided information on how the aviation industry achieved high levels of safety, emphasizing the power of collaboration in improving complex systems.
- Steen Fjalstad,Director of Security at MRO, moderated a panel with Tim Brown, Vice President and CISO at SolarWinds, Tim Conway, Technical Director of ICS and SCADA programs at SANS Institute, and Kathryn Condello, Lumen Fellow of National Security/Emergency Preparedness at CenturyLink, on Nation-State threats and security policy.
The afternoon breakout tracks were a focal point, featuring 20 speaker sessions where experts from FERC, NERC, MRO, and the industry shared technical insights. These sessions tackled critical reliability, security, and compliance challenges facing regional bulk power system participants.
The summit’s hybrid format was a key factor in its success, allowing hundreds of attendees to participate both in-person and online. This extensive reach underscores MRO’s dedication to fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing in support of our shared vision of a highly reliable and secure North American bulk power system.
Access the Summit Materials and Recordings
– Jessie Mitchell, MRO Director of Communications