Saint Paul, Minn. As part of Midwest Reliability Organization’s annual summer assessment, staff engineers determined that operating reserves are expected to remain sufficient under normal summer weather conditions, assuming typical maintenance schedules and planned generation outages across the region.
However, periods of extreme heat that drive demand spikes, combined with forced generation outages, could result in insufficient electricity supply in SaskPower’s service area. In those circumstances, SaskPower may need to implement demand response programs, arrange short-term power transfers, or issue energy emergency alerts to maintain required operating reserve levels.
This summer’s outlook represents an improvement compared with previous years, reflecting the efforts of utilities across the region to add approximately 10 GW of new generation capacity, mostly from solar and hydro resources. Despite these gains, reliability challenges remain. Forecasting uncertainty, rapidly growing demand, and periods of low wind and solar generation could create operational challenges during the summer months.
MRO’s 2026 Regional Summer Assessment (RSA) provides industry stakeholders and decision-makers with insights into potential operating challenges from June through September. The assessment also recommends actions to reduce near-term system risks and highlights regional performance trends to support long-term planning and reliability efforts.
Join us for a webinar reviewing the 2026 RSA findings and recommendations on June 25, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. Central Time.
Read more in the MRO 2026 Regional Summer Assessment │ Infographic
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Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the reliability and security of the bulk power system in the central region of North America, including parts of both the United States and Canada. MRO is one of six regional entities in North America operating under authority from regulators in the United States through a delegation agreement with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and in Canada under similar arrangements. The primary focus of MRO is developing and monitoring compliance with reliability standards and assessing the grid’s ability to meet the demands for electricity.