Midwest Reliability Organization
2025 Annual Report
Supporting a highly reliable and secure North American bulk power system
About the Region
Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) has oversight authority for utility companies that provide power to more than 28 million people in the region.
Our North American footprint includes all or part of 16 states and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
We have 80+ employees headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
By the Numbers:
260+
Registered Entities
Owners, users, and operators of the North American bulk power system responsible for complying with mandatory standards.
638
Registered Functions
Roles assigned to registered entities that determine applicable standards to promote grid reliability and security.
107
Member Organizations
Industry companies that voluntarily collaborate on reliability and security issues to benefit the region as a whole.
Our Mission
To identify, prioritize, and assure effective and efficient mitigation of risks to the reliability and security of the North American bulk power system by promoting Highly Effective Reliability Organizations® (HEROs).
Executive Summary
As we close the first year of Midwest Reliability Organization's (MRO) 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, we are humbled and inspired by the collective commitment of our members, staff, and stakeholders to our shared vision of a highly reliable and secure North American bulk power system.
Together, we navigated a year of rapid transformation and growing complexity. One that was marked by significant changes in electricity generation and supply, overwhelming projected increases in demand, evolving policy and regulatory pressures, and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
Our accomplishments in 2025 were guided by three strategic priorities. We invested in People, cultivating a culture that earned MRO recognition as a Top Workplace. We strengthened Processes, modernizing our data analytics plan and clearing compliance backlogs to work faster and smarter. And we deepened Partnerships, expanding our engagement across industry with various stakeholders to proactively reduce risk and better anticipate what lies ahead.
This report highlights meaningful progress toward our mission to identify, prioritize, and mitigate risks to the regional bulk power system. A renewed emphasis on Highly Effective Reliability Organizations (HEROs®) is woven throughout, reflected in the many engagements with industry stakeholders. These interactions reinforced a simple but powerful truth: reliability is built through shared dialogue, diverse perspectives, and collective action.
None of our success was achieved in isolation. It reflects coordinated efforts across the entire ERO Enterprise ecosystem and a shared resolve to protect the grid—the essential foundation of our economy and daily lives.
As we reflect on 2025, one lesson stands out: our ability to navigate uncertainty is strongest when we work together. By aligning our goals, leaning into shared expertise, and collaborating across institutions with purpose and intention, MRO continues to support a reliable and secure future.
Thank you for your ongoing dedication and commitment.
Our Future is Bright!
Sara Patrick, President and CEO
Sara Patrick, President and CEO
Dr. Dana Born, Board Chair
Dr. Dana Born, Board Chair
2025-2028 Strategic Priorities
2025 accomplishments related to PEOPLE:
Strengthened equity and accountability through SMART goals framework, guidelines, and processes.
Expanded use of technology and HR systems to create greater efficiencies for staff.
Maintained extremely high levels of employee engagement and satisfaction.
Achieved a Top Minnesota Workplace award for two consecutive years.
2025 accomplishments related to PROCESSES:
Expanded our team to support new energy assessment work.
Developed Risk Management Action Plans to mitigate top risks to regional reliability and security.
Began implementing capabilities to improve data collection, organization and decision-making capabilities.
Reduced noncompliance backlog to an all-time low.
Strengthened security posture and improved data security practices.
2025 accomplishments related to PARTNERSHIPS:
Added resources to expand relationships and increase engagement with regional regulators and policymakers.
Collaborated with the ERO Enterprise (NERC + Regional Entities) to reduce challenges associated with inverter-based resources (a top risk in the region).
Elevated outreach efforts to include new tools and technology, and hosted MRO's first-ever multi-day industry summit.
Hosted 500+ individuals from across the electricity industry at the ERO Women's Leadership Conference.
Strategic Priority 1: PEOPLE
MRO’s success in 2025 was defined by a culture of "leading from the front." By empowering 40% of our workforce to lead committees, we’ve built a community that thrives outside the traditional scope of work. Together, these groups hosted 10 events that enabled our team to not only connect with each other, but with the communities we work and live within.
We deepened that connection through expanded CliftonStrengths Training, providing our team with the tools to understand and leverage their unique talents. Through this work, we continue to learn how to recognize and acknowledge the individual attributes we each bring to the table that contribute to MRO's overall success.
This shift toward intentional, strengths-based collaboration is working—our 90% engagement survey response rate proves that when we align our work with our inherent strengths, we create a workplace of high trust and purposeful action. MRO's 2025 Employee Engagement Survey results reflect 94% of our team is engaged or highly engaged:
The top drivers of high job satisfaction for MRO employees are equally balanced between:
MRO's People-First Philosophy was developed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as a strategic approach to prioritize employee well-being, growth, and engagement. As a non-profit regulatory organization, this philosophy (based on the principle that thriving employees drive sustainable organizational success), has become a foundational part of MRO's culture and recruitment/retention strategy.
"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team."
Legendary Hall of Fame NBA coach, Phil Jackson
Employee Diamond Award
MRO's Human Resources Generalist, Kristine Albrecht, was received the company's top recognition...the annual Diamond Award. Nominated by several of her peers, Kristine was selected for her positive attitude, willingness to help others across the organization, and time spent supporting MRO's DEI and volunteer efforts. She also led the continued implementation of MRO's new Human Resources Information System (HRIS) tool.
MRO’s Diamond Award is an opportunity for employees to recognize a colleague who demonstrates leadership, hard work, dedication, and exhibits the following Core Values:
- Connection
- Curiosity
- Commitment
- Competency
Candidates for the Diamond Award routinely help drive and implement positive change and innovation across the organization.
Kristine recieved the award in March from MRO's executive team at an all-staff meeting and was also acknowledged by the board of directors.
Kristine Albrecht, 2025 Diamond Award Winner
Kristine Albrecht, 2025 Diamond Award Winner
Lam Chung, Richard Burt, Kristine Albrecht, Sara Patrick, Julie Peterson (L-R)
Lam Chung, Richard Burt, Kristine Albrecht, Sara Patrick, Julie Peterson (L-R)
Strategic Priority 2: PROCESSES
A primary focus for MRO in 2025 included enhancements to the annual Regional Risk Assessment (RRA) through the development of internal Risk Management Action Plans (RMAPs). RMAPs were developed for each of the top risks in the RRA, and serve as multi-year strategic roadmaps for addressing the region's most critical reliability and security threats. The RMAPs follow a structured process that evaluates risk drivers, assesses mitigation activities, identifies gaps, and prioritizes initiatives that maximize impact and value.
Additionally, we accelerated energy and transfer capability studies by optimizing staffing, helping to address uncertain energy availability, the only "Extreme" risk identified in the RRA.
Part of MRO's proactive risk management includes improved data analytics to provide greater insight and inform long-term strategies for regional reliability. A roadmap for strengthening data capabilities was developed in 2025 and establishes a structured, phased approach to better integrate data across the organization, enable deeper analysis, and inform decision making
Parallel to these risk initiatives, we enhanced organizational efficiency through digital transformation and streamlined compliance workflows, successfully migrating to Windows 11 and mapping internal controls to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0.
Importantly, process improvements in the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program enabled us to close out a record-breaking volume of noncompliances. This effort brought the organization to a historic milestone: a noncompliance backlog of less than one year, ensuring a more responsive and effective regulatory environment for our stakeholders.
Noncompliance Processing Statistics
Most issues of noncompliances in the MRO region are self-identified (self-report or self-log) by registered entities. This indicates a strong compliance culture and commitment in the region to identifying, addressing, and reporting instances of noncompliance with reliability standards.
Discovery Method of Noncompliances
Noncompliances reviewed by MRO are tagged as minimal, moderate, or serious, depending on the risk posed to the bulk power system. MRO monitors all risk determinations over time to observe the region’s overall effectiveness in reducing power system risk. A high percentage of cases in the region are minimal risk.
Risk Determinations for Issues of Noncompliance (January 2021 to December 2025)
Streamlined processes exist for reporting minimal risk issues of noncompliance to NERC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Because the majority of cases are minimal risk, MRO processes most as compliance exceptions. We also compile this information to determine trends, like the average age of open noncompliances and the closure percentage of noncompliances or dismissals to identify opportunities for outreach and training.
Count of Noncompliance Processing Methods between January 2021 and December 2025
Strategic Priority 3: PARTNERSHIPS
MRO's role and expansive footprint places us in a unique position to support utility companies, grid planners and operators, utility regulators, and policy makers during this extraordinary energy transition. Technical and industry-wide coordination and collaboration continued in 2025 as we worked closely with NERC and regional stakeholders to execute a multi-year strategy for reducing bulk power system risk.
Key deliverables from these collaborative efforts included:
- Canadian Interregional Transfer Capability Study that focused on cross-provincial and cross-border transmission capacity.
- Summer and winter reliability assessments that communicated the performance of the regional grid, historical trends, and anticipated seasonal challenges.
- Annual Regional Risk Assessment (RRA) that identified the top risks to reliability and security of the grid, along with recommended actions for mitigation.
- Targeted activities to address challenges from extreme winter weather and uncertainty related to inverter-based resource performance, both high risks in MRO's RRA.
- A framework for performing new energy assessments - a direct response to the rapid grid transformation and the risk of uncertain energy availability, which was identified as an "extreme risk" in MRO's RRA.
- A reduction in the rate of misoperations--a leading cause of outages in the region--from 8.4% in 2020 to 5.9% in 2025.
- Multiple conferences, webinars, and workshops to share information and best practices across the region.
Also in 2025, MRO deepened its commitment to stakeholder engagement by expanding outreach to local policymakers and regulatory bodies. A pivotal milestone was the creation of a Regulatary Affairs Department tasked with raising awareness of bulk power system risk and fostering an environment of shared understanding with this key audience.
Moving from Assessment to Action
MRO provides a forum for industry stakeholders to gather together and share information and best practices that benefit the region as a whole. Throughout 2025, industry-led advisory councils helped identify topics, draft news articles, provide presentations, and share critical reliability and security information.
These collective efforts resulted in more than 157 opportunities for stakeholders to engage with MRO last year, including the first-ever joint Reliability, Security and Compliance Summit. The innovative and continuous improvements made to MRO's outreach events continue to receive very high marks from participants.
2025 Reliability, Security, and CMEP Summit
MRO hosted its first ever joint Reliability, Security, and Compliance Summit in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Designed around "Navigating the Evolving Power Grid," the event focused on key issues impacting the reliability and security of the North American bulk power system.
Robust Agenda
The two-day summit featured morning plenary sessions for all attendees, with focused breakout sessions in the afternoon planned by MRO's industry advisory councils. Importantly, the event covered the top risks identified in MRO's Regional Risk Assessment, among other important reliability, security, and compliance topics.
Collaborative Sessions
The event brought together hundreds of industry experts to explore the greatest threats and emerging challenges shaping the electricity sector. The theme of collaboration and unity was woven throughout the agenda topics, underscoring the collective effort needed to improve grid resilience.
Expert Speakers
More than 20 speaker sessions featured experts from FERC, NERC, MRO, and industry. These sessions tackled critical reliability, security, and compliance challenges facing regional bulk power system participants.
Interested in Attending MRO's 2026 Summit?
Our Reach in 2025:
98k+
People Reached
7,540
Social Followers
7k+
Website
Views
20
Educational Events
3,859
Event Participants
137
Industry Meetings & Engagements
Strengthening the regional power grid
Major 2025 Initiatives
Bulk Power System Assessments
To support a reliable power grid, MRO produces summer and winter reliability asessments. These reports evaluate the adequacy of generation and transmission resources against projected demand, incorporating continent-wide data from NERC to identify specific regional trends. MRO’s assessments continue to highlight the increasing necessity of "firm" capacity as the resource mix transitions. These findings serve as the technical backbone for the annual Regional Risk Assessment (RRA), which prioritizes emerging threats such as extreme weather, physical and cyber security, and uncertain energy availability, assuring that regional activities and outreach are data-driven and risk-informed.
The RRA is the cornerstone of MRO's risk-reduction efforts. Each year, our team collaborates with industry experts (that serve on MRO's advisory councils) to perform a comprehensive assessment of continent-wide risks to the bulk power system, determining which are most likely and could have the greatest impact within the region. The results are shared with industry leaders and other key decision makers to raise awareness of risk and help prioritize mitigation efforts. In 2025, MRO created a dedicated webpage to highlight this crucial assessment and the top seven regional risks.
To assure continued reliability of the bulk power system during this period of transition, the ERO Enterprise is working with industry to change the way it determines if sufficient energy will be available to meet electricity demand. New energy reliability assessments being developed will help address Uncertain Energy Availability, the only extreme risk identified in the RRA.
Inverter-Based Resource Strategy
Inverter-based resources (like solar, wind, and battery power), are becoming a larger part of the grid and consumers are increasingly dependent on these resources for reliable energy. Unlike traditional power plants such as coal and natural gas, which physically respond to grid conditions, inverter-based resources (IBRs) rely on software-defined behavior. Inadequate modeling and performance of these resources has led to unexpected outages during grid disturbances. NERC and the ERO Enterprise developed an IBR strategy to address these challenges in 2022.
A reliability gap was discovered where some IBR plants that were connected to, or have an aggregate impact on, the bulk power system were not registered with NERC or required to comply with mandatory reliability standards. To address this gap, NERC launched the ERO Enterprise IBR Registration Initiative in 2023. May 2026 marks the third and final milestone of this initiative, in which registration of a newly designated category of generator owners and operators occurs. MRO dedicated a significant amount of time and effort throughout 2025 to assess and appropriately identify IBR owners and operators, and conduct outreach to raise awareness on the registration intiative.
Generator Winterization Program
To reduce the impact that extreme cold weather can have on reliability of the regional power grid, MRO developed a Generator Winterization Program (GWP) in 2021, following major winter Storms Uri and Elliott. Both of these events resulted in significant disruption and strain on the bulk power system.The GWP is a voluntary program that includes site visits and detailed surveys to gather information and assess winterization efforts across the region. In 2025, MRO published key findings from the program to share information and best practices for protecting critical grid components during extreme cold.
Summer Reliability Assessment
Winter Reliability Assessment
Regional Risk Assessment
Generator Winter Preparedness
Inverter-Based Resource Initiatives
Inverter-Based Resource Milestones
88 owners and operators of IBR resources in the region on the path to registration
IBR Primer document published specifically for Category 2 Generator Owners and Operators
Multiple articles, social media posts, and training events on the registration initiative and reducing IBR risk
A dedicated IBR page was added to MRO's website for easy access to information
Curriculum (MRO 101) was created to help onboard new registrants
Who We Are
MRO Members and Board of Directors
Membership with MRO is voluntary, free of charge, and does not affect NERC registration. MRO's 107 member companies are allowed representation on the the board of directors and the industry-led advisory councils and subgroups that report to the board.
MRO's 23-member hybrid board of directors includes both independent and industry sector members representing seven industry sectors:
- Cooperative
- Canadian Utility
- Federal Power Marketing Agency
- Generator and/or Power Marketer
- Investor-Owned Utility
- Municipal Utility
- Transmission System Operator
Industry-Led Councils and Subgroups
The purpose of MRO’s advisory councils is to help identify, assess and mitigate risks that are most prevalent and impactful to the stakeholders in MRO’s region. Throughout 2025, these groups sponsored conferences and webinars, hosted weekly and monthly stakeholder calls, and published newsletter articles and guidance documents to raise awareness of risk across the region.
Volunteer Recognition Program
MRO’s Volunteer Recognition Program recognizes retiring organizational group members for their years of service and commitment to the organization. The following individuals were honored at the Annual Board and Member Meeting in December 2025:
|
2025 Volunteer Recognition |
||
|---|---|---|
|
3-5 Years |
6-11 Years |
12+ Years |
|
- Ian Anderson, OGE - Kimberly Bently, WAPA - Rocky Tolentino, SPP |
- Brett Lawler, Xcel - C.J. Brown, SPP |
- Gayle Nansel, WAPA |
Annual HERO Award Winner: Tiffany Lake
The HERO Award serves as a peer recognition program for individuals who have set standards of excellence aligned with the theory and principles of High Reliability Organizations (HROs). Award recipients exemplify HRO behavior in pursuit of MRO’s mission “to identify, prioritize and assure effective and efficient mitigation of risks to the reliability and security of the North American bulk power system by promoting Highly Effective Reliability Organizations® (HEROs).”
Tiffany Lake, Director of FERC/NERC Compliance at Evergy, received the award because of her unwavering focus on internal controls as a way of reducing compliance risk and her willingness to share her experience and expertise with others across the region. She chairs MRO’s Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program Advisory Council, where she encourages collaboration on a wide variety of compliance topics.
Lake also volunteered to emcee MRO’s first-ever Reliability, Security, and Compliance Summit last May and was instrumental in the event’s success. She was honored by the board at MRO's annual meeting in December.
President and CEO Sara Patrick and former volunteer recognition recipients
President and CEO Sara Patrick and former volunteer recognition recipients
OGOC Chair Daryl Maxwell, HERO Award Winner Tiffany Lake, and President and CEO Sara Patrick
OGOC Chair Daryl Maxwell, HERO Award Winner Tiffany Lake, and President and CEO Sara Patrick
2025 Board of Directors
Dr. Dana Born
Chair, Independent Director
James Brummond
Vice Chair, Investor Owned Utility Sector
Ben Porath
Member, Cooperative Utility Sector
Brenda Houtz
Member, Transmission System Operator Sector
Darcy Neigum
Member, Investor Owned Utility Sector
Daryl Maxwell
Member, Canadian Utility Sector
Dehn Stevens
Member, Investor Owned Utility Sector
Eric Miller
Member, Transmission System Operator Sector
Eric Schmitt
Member, Independent Director
Gayle Nansel
Member, Federal Power Marketing Agency
(partial year)
Iqbal Dhami
Member, Canadian Utility Sector
Jeanne Tisinger
Member, Independent Director
Jennifer Flandermeyer
Member, Regional Director
JoAnn Thompson
Member, Investor Owned Utility Sector
John Rhea
Member, Generator Power Marketer Sector
Lloyd Linke
Member, Federal Power Marketing Agency
(partial year)
Mike Riley
Member, Transmission System Operator Sector
Paul Crist
Member, Municipal Utility Sector
Priti Patel
Member, Cooperative Utility Sector
Sandra Johnson
Member, Investor Owned Utility Sector
Terri Pyle
Member, Regional Director
Thomas Graham
Member, Independent Director
Tim McCollough
Member, Municipal Utility Sector
Truong Le
Member, Generator Power Marketer Sector
Board Recognition
(L-R) Board Chair Dr. Dana Born, Board Member Lloyd Linke, and President and CEO Sara Patrick
Long-term board member and colleague Lloyd Linke announced his retirement from Western Area Power Administration and the board in September. As the longest tenured member of the board, we honored Lloyd's many contributions to the board and the MRO region.
Board Welcome
(L-R) Board Vice Chair JP Brummond, Board Chair Dr. Dana Born, OGOC Chair Daryl Maxwell, Board Member Gayle Nansel, and President and CEO Sara Patrick
We welcomed Gayle Nansel from Western Area Power Administration to fill the open Federal Power Marketer Sector seat vacated by Lloyd. Gayle is no stranger to MRO, with over 16 years of service to the organization. She has served on several MRO and industry committees, including as chair and vice chair of the Reliability Advisory Council.
Board Transition
(L-R) Incoming Board Vice Chair Eric Schmitt and incoming Board Chair JP Brummond, President and CEO Sara Patrick, and outgoing Board Chair Dr. Dana Born,
Dr. Dana Born concluded her term as board chair in December 2025. In 2026, James "JP" Brummond (representing the Investor Owned Utility Sector) will lead the board as chair and Independent Director Eric Schmitt will serve as vice chair.
MRO's Leadership Team
MRO's Leadership Team
Throughout 2025, the leadership teams continued to champion MRO's Core Values of Connection, Curiosity, Commitment and Competency. These four pillars provide the foundation for a culture where employees are empowered to challenge the status quo and contribute to the company's vision and mission.
(Pictured L-R) VP and Chief Strategy and Finance Officer Lam Chung, President and CEO Sara Patrick, VP and General Counsel Julie Peterson, and Sr. VP and COO Richard Burt
Working closely with NERC and the other Regional Entities, MRO's leadership team is communicating an "invented future." One that is guiding the organization through an extraordinary evolution of the power grid, focusing on the priorities that enable long-term success.
(Pictured L-R) Back Row: Director of Power System Risk Management Mark Tiemeier, Director of Regulatory Affairs Will Seuffert, Director of Finance and Corporate Risk Gina March, Director of Compliance Monitoring Bill Steiner, Director of Risk Assessment and Mitigation Mark Flanary. Front Row: Director of Reliaiblity Analysis Bryan Clark, Director of IT Ken Gartner, Director of Human Resources Karla Schiller, Director of Outreach and Security Steen Fjalstad, and Director of Enforcement & Sr. Counsel Tasha Ward.
2025 Financial Performance
$26.75
Total Budget
In millions
$25.23
Total Assessments
In millions
$25.83
Total Spend
In millions
2024
Budget: $24.9M
By Program Area
2025
Budget: $26.8M
By Program Area
Yr/Yr Change: 7.5%
2026
Budget: $27.8M
By Program Area
Yr/Yr Change: 3.91%
2024
FTEs
By Program Area
2025
FTEs
By Program Area
2026
FTEs
By Program Area
What's Next...
Closing Letter
As this report demonstrates, the past year was defined by change, complexity, and progress. Alongside our members, staff, and stakeholders, we strengthened the foundation of a highly reliable and secure bulk power system—one built on shared responsibility and a willingness to confront challenges head-on.
My personal theme for the year was FOCI, the plural of focus. (Coincidentally, FOCI is also the name of the glass arts studio where I practice glass blowing; managing 2,200-degree molten glass requires a level of intensity that mirrors our work in the power industry.)
The challenges we faced in 2025 were not one-time events. They will endure through 2026 and beyond. As demand growth, resource transformation, policy pressures, and cyber risks continue to test the system, the pace of change will not slow. In a world full of distractions, we must maintain a sustained focus on the priorities that advance our strategic objectives.
The collaborative foundation we are building today—grounded in shared learning and coordinated action—positions us to navigate this uncertainty with clarity and FOCI.
Together, we are prepared for what comes next.
Our Future is Bright!
Sara Patrick, President and CEO
Sara Patrick, President and CEO
© 2026 Midwest Reliability Organization All Rights Reserved.
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