As NERC’s latest analysis reveals deepening vulnerabilities in the North American grid, it's time to modernize how we plan and connect power across provinces and borders.

The Challenge Ahead

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has delivered a wake-up call. Its latest Interregional Transfer Capability Study: Canadian Analysis finds growing risks to grid reliability across Canada, driven by limited interprovincial transfer capacity, increasing demand, and more frequent extreme weather. Among the most sobering findings: Québec may face up to a 10 GW shortfall during severe winter conditions, and many provinces lack sufficient infrastructure to support one another during peak stress events.

This challenge doesn’t stop at national borders. The Canadian and U.S. grids are deeply interconnected. A shortfall in one province or region can ripple across the connected system, affecting reliability, affordability, and progress toward energy diversity needs continent-wide.

While U.S.-Canada transfer capabilities are generally robust, NERC’s findings suggest even these cross-border connections could fall short under peak winter stress, especially if multiple regions are strained simultaneously. This underscores the need for coordinated planning for adequate energy resources and infrastructure that spans both nations.

We Can’t Build Our Way Out Fast Enough

Transmission investment is critical — but it’s not quick. Upgrades often span a decade or more from concept to operation. In the meantime, grid operators must find ways to do more with what they already have: safely increasing asset utilization, optimizing transfer capability, prioritizing no-regret projects, and integrating distributed resources more effectively.

The solution isn’t just more steel in the ground. It’s smarter planning, optimized interconnection, faster processes, and coordinated action across jurisdictions.

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A CEO's Perspective

“We need to stop treating interconnection as a mere technical assessment. It’s a strategic prioritization and capital allocation process for a modern grid — one that deserves the same rigor and investment as physical infrastructure. What NERC is highlighting isn’t just a transmission issue; it’s a curated data sharing and collaboration issue. And that’s solvable.”

— Brian Fitzsimons, CEO, GridUnity

Modernizing the Interconnection Lifecycle

The interconnection lifecycle — from applicant request to commissioning — is one of the most important, yet under-optimized, information and decision-making systems available to utilities and grid operators today. When fully modernized, it allows:

• Proactive Planning: Greater visibility into the grid’s historical and real-time data on which network investments and reliability decisions are made and that unlock the ability to forecast planning scenarios and develop operational solutions to enable regions to prepare for extreme conditions, not just react to them.
  
  
• Accelerated Action: Efficient and automated workflows that reduce cycle times, freeing up utility staff to focus on complex analyses and stakeholder engagement.
  
  
• Cross-Border Collaboration: Transparent, interoperable platforms that align priorities across process participants, provinces, ISOs, and national boundaries.
  
  

And while the report focuses on transmission-level capability, distribution systems are facing parallel challenges as DERs, EV chargers, and other new loads seek connection at unprecedented rates. Before long, and particularly with the growth of virtual power plants (VPPs), the need for smarter interconnection and data sharing between distribution and transmission will emerge clearly. 

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From Vulnerability to Vision

There’s a growing disconnect between available capacity and usable capacity. In many cases, the grid has more potential than the current planning and interconnection processes allow it to realize. That’s a data visibility and coordination challenge — and one we can address now, even as longer-term upgrades move forward.

NERC’s report outlines what’s at stake. But it also points toward a new paradigm: one where resiliency is built not just on infrastructure, but on foresight, flexibility, and collaboration. We must prioritize interconnection as a shared, strategic capability — not just a procedural hurdle.

Let’s Plan Smarter — Together

GridUnity works with transmission providers, regional transmission operators, transmission owners, and other utilities across North America to modernize interconnection from the ground up.

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Learn how we partner to accelerate interconnection and strengthen grid reliability.

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