Energy regulators step up to address recent cold weather events

On February 16, 2021, in response to the extreme cold weather events resulting in significant power outages affecting millions of electricity customers throughout the Midwest and South Central states, particularly in systems operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Southwest Power Pool (SPP), and Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) announced that they have initiated an inquiry into how the bulk power system operated during these events.