Reliability risk across North America is rising over the next decade as electricity demand growth, driven largely by new data centers, outpaces the pace of new generation, transmission and fuel infrastructure needed to support it, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) said Thursday in its 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment. “This assessment is not a prediction of failure but an early warning on the trajectory of risk,” John Moura, NERC’s director of Reliability Assessment and Performance Analysis, said during a media briefing Thursday. “Reliability risk is increasing, and really not because we lack awareness, but that the system is changing faster than the infrastructure need to support it,” Moura said. Olson said more areas show elevated or high risk as demand projections rise and resource plans become more uncertain. Olson said new data centers are the main driver of load growth in many areas, though large industrial loads and electrification also contribute.