From the Board Chair and President and CEO

Dear Members and Stakeholders:

The Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) Board of Directors met on June 11, 2026, in Saint Paul, Minnesota and via Webex for its second-quarter meetings. Discussions reflected the rapid transformation underway across the electric industry and MRO’s continued commitment to maintaining a highly reliable and secure North American bulk power system.

The meetings provided an opportunity for the board and stakeholders to review key ERO Enterprise initiatives and receive updates from MRO staff and organizational groups on efforts supporting MRO’s strategic priorities of People, Processes, and Partnerships.

Developing a High-Performance Culture

The meeting opened by celebrating several organizational milestones. For the third consecutive year, MRO has been recognized by the Star Tribune as a Top Workplace in Minnesota. This honor is uniquely meaningful because it is based entirely on employee feedback regarding workplace respect, support, empowerment, and opportunities for professional growth. The achievement is a testament to the exceptional culture MRO’s team has built together.

We also celebrated the continuous momentum of MRO’s strengths-based employee development initiative. During the second quarter, staff participated in an interactive workshop that deepened individual and team awareness of personal strengths and working styles. The strengths-based system fosters greater self-awareness, an appreciation for diverse viewpoints, and stronger team cohesion.

Finally, the board celebrated the promotion of Bryan Clark to Senior Director of Reliability Analysis. Bryan remains central to shaping and advancing how MRO assesses and communicates reliability risk and leads the team redefining the organization’s reliability analysis framework.

Strengthening Processes to Mitigate Risk

Keeping pace with the evolving risk landscape was the primary focus of the Q2 sessions. Staff reported that the ERO Enterprise successfully completed registration efforts for identified Category 2 Inverter-Based Resource (IBR) facilities. This multi-year initiative closed a critical reliability gap by providing vital visibility into smaller IBRs that, when aggregated, significantly impact bulk power system reliability. These resources are now integrated into the same reliability and compliance framework as traditional generation assets and now become part of MRO’s normal work. The board commended staff and stakeholders for this highly coordinated, cross-industry achievement.

The board also discussed the challenges associated with the rapid growth of large electrical loads, particularly data centers, and the industry’s capacity to integrate these loads reliably into system planning and operations. The day before the board meeting, the board’s Organizational Group Oversight Committee (OGOC) hosted a closed risk roundtable on this topic. Participants discussed operational and planning complexities tied to large computational loads and proactive mitigation strategies being deployed across various organizations. Insights from this roundtable will guide MRO in developing regional risk-reduction activities and support the implementation of NERC’s Large Load Action Plan (LLAP). Much like the IBR registration effort, success will require deep coordination among industry participants, federal and state regulators, and North American partners.

In closed session, the board reviewed an update on MRO’s Corporate Risk Program and the annual corporate risk report. Notably this year, artificial intelligence was integrated as a distinct risk consideration across all corporate risk categories. Information Technology and cybersecurity remain among the organization’s highest priority risks and will continue to be closely monitored by staff and the board.

Expanding Strategic Partnerships and Collaboration

Stakeholder engagement was exceptionally strong in the first half of the year. The OGOC highlighted MRO’s recent webinars and the successful second annual Reliability, Security, and CMEP Summit in Omaha, Nebraska. The two-day event featured an outstanding lineup of industry speakers and drew a record-breaking 245 in-person and 297 virtual attendees. Centered on the theme “Grid Reliability is a Team Sport,” the summit reinforced that reliability is not the responsibility of any single entity, but a shared commitment that depends on strong collaboration and teamwork across the industry. In the spirit of collaboration, industry members on MRO’s advisory councils play a crucial role in helping to develop and implement MRO’s stakeholder outreach activities.

MRO is also working to strengthen relationships with state and provincial regulators and policymakers. The ongoing energy transformation requires closer coordination between federal and state agencies, as decisions made at the local level increasingly affect the broader bulk power system. Large load integration has become a key topic during MRO’s engagements with state commissioners, many of whom are highly interested in NERC’s Large Load Action Plan (LLAP) and MRO’s supporting efforts. Commissioners have also shown increased interest in NERC and MRO reliability assessments, demonstrating that efforts to expand engagement with this stakeholder group are delivering meaningful results.

Financial Stewardship

The board approved MRO’s 2027 Business Plan and Budget, including post-retirement medical funding and reserve requirements. The approved budget of $28.3 million represents a 1.9 percent increase from 2026. Assessments to load serving entities also increased by 1.9 percent to $26.7 million. An assessment stabilization adjustment of $1.6 million was made to offset that increase. MRO will maintain current staffing levels through 2027. This measured approach ensures that new initiatives are only scaled once workload requirements are fully defined, helping to keep the budget increase low.

These actions position MRO to fulfill its delegated responsibilities while continuing to support industry stakeholders in an increasingly complex operating environment. The budget will next be considered by the NERC Board of Trustees in August before being submitted to FERC for approval.

The board also approved the appointment of the audit firm Baker Tilly for MRO’s 2026 independent financial audit.

Looking Ahead

As the industry continues to evolve, we are faced with the enormous challenge of maintaining reliability of a system where the margin for error is shrinking and risk is accelerating. Importantly, no single entity controls the outcome. Genuine collaboration—not just when it is convenient and when everyone is aligned—remains essential to our shared success.

We encourage you to stay engaged in MRO activities and look forward to continuing these important conversations throughout the year.

Our future is bright!

Sincerely,

JP Brummond, Board Chair and Sara Patrick, President and CEO

The full meeting minutes, detailing the discussions and actions, will be available soon on MRO’s website.