FERC Approves Solar-Wind Modeling Rules to Prevent Blackouts
Published Date: 2/24/2026
Notice
Summary
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved new rules to help keep our electric grid safe and reliable as more inverter-based energy sources, like solar and wind, join the mix. These changes affect energy companies and grid operators, updating how they model and verify power system data. The new standards roll out soon, aiming to prevent blackouts and keep electricity flowing smoothly without extra costs to consumers.
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
New grid modeling standards approved
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved NERC's petitions filed on November 4, 2025, to adopt new Reliability Standards for modeling inverter-based resources. You (and everyone who uses electricity) should benefit because the Commission says these standards should ensure planners and operators have the data and models needed to plan for, operate, and reliably integrate inverter-based resources on the Bulk‑Power System.
Estimated paperwork hours and costs
The order includes FERC paperwork‑burden estimates for the new standards: for MOD-032-2 a total of 26,704 hours and $1,696,238.08; for IRO-010-6 a total of 32,688 hours and $2,076,341.76; and for TOP-003-8 a total of 32,592 hours and $2,070,243.84 (based on entity counts and hourly cost assumptions described in the text). NERC provided estimated entity counts such as 1,834 generator owners and 1,333 generator operators used in these calculations.
Entities must supply IBR modeling data
Approved Reliability Standard MOD-032-2 requires planning coordinators (working with transmission planners) to develop steady-state, dynamic, and short-circuit modeling data requirements and reporting procedures. The standard also requires balancing authorities, distribution providers, generator owners, resource planners, transmission owners, transmission service providers, and others to provide inverter‑based resource (IBR) and IBR‑DER data to support planning cases.
Model validation required every 24 months
Approved Reliability Standard MOD-033-3 requires each planning coordinator to validate planning system models by comparing power flow simulation performance and dynamic local event simulation performance to actual system behavior at least once every 24 calendar months. Reliability coordinators and transmission operators must provide actual system behavior data to planning coordinators performing validation.
Dynamic and EMT model submission rules
Approved Reliability Standard MOD-026-2 requires generator owners and transmission owners to provide positive sequence dynamic models and to provide electromagnetic transient (EMT) models for FACTS devices, HVDC systems, and registered IBRs to transmission planners (with a narrow exclusion for legacy facilities when the original equipment manufacturer no longer supports EMT models). Owners claiming no OEM support must substantiate that claim with documentation.
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