Today, compliance and risk management resemble a constant turning puzzle, much like Rubik’s Cube. With every move, the alignment of risk and compliance across the organization is reshaped.
Much like the evolution of the Rubi ’s Cube, the way utilities approach NERC compliance and manage grid, system, and delivery reliability risks has transformed dramatically since the early Reliability Standards Implementation Era days. What began as a compliance-driven, zero-defect, check-the-box exercise is now a dynamic, multidimensional practice shaped by risk frameworks and constant regulatory and policy shifts.
For many utilities, navigating this complexity means staying ahead of evolving standards set by NERC, FERC, and other regulatory bodies, while also maintaining a diverse utility risk landscape. Risks, whether compliance-related, operational, or strategic, do not exist in isolation. They interact, compound, and influence one another, forming a complex, ever-shifting puzzle that demands thoughtful navigation.
Jim Robb, President and CEO of North American Electric Reliability Corp. characterizes this complexity as a five-alarm fire, with repswhen it comes to reliability.
The 2025 ERO Reliability Risk Priorities introduce a new set of risk profiles that rotate the axis once again. These profiles are not just new faces on the cube; they reshape its entire geometry. While the risk landscape evolves rapidly, reliability standards have been slow to catch up.
That means utility compliance and reliability in 2026 will depend on a utility’s ability to act ahead of the standards. Teams will need to anticipate risks, not just respond to them, and build readiness without waiting for regulatory direction. Each of the new risk profiles introduces new reliability challenges that regulators will expect to see reflected in compliance programs.
This signals a major shift in how compliance is monitored and enforced. The Electric Reliability Organization Enterprise continues moving towards an approach that prioritizes emerging electric utility threats – one of which is wildfires.
Athena is delighted to be working with Charles River Associates’ Utility Practice Group. Working together we have found efficient ways to review, update or write Wildfire Mitigation Plans (WMP) or provide other ways to mitigate wildfire risk – in light of the way wildfire risk is evaluated, or understood, by regulators, credit analysts or co-op members. CRAI has solutions designed for municipal power companies and NRECA/Touchstone members without the budgets of large IOUs.
Utilities that fail to adapt risk falling behind as regulatory expectations accelerate. If organizations don’t evolve to meet emerging threats, the consequences can be far more difficult to fix. This is no longer about an auditor flagging a lagging department.
Today, that oversight leaves you vulnerable to disruptions. Kirsten Maw of Charles River Associates has recently published about this in Public Utility Fortnightly.