Grid Rules Get a Rewrite as Renewables Take Charge

FERC’s new standards force solar, wind, and battery plants to stay online through grid disturbances, reshaping how the U.S. grid runs

18 Dec 2025

A quiet rule change is beginning to ripple across the US power sector. In July 2025, federal regulators approved new reliability standards that reflect a simple reality. The grid now leans heavily on solar, wind, and batteries, and it needs them to act like grown-ups.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has signed off on standards that apply to inverter-based resources, known in the industry as IBRs. These include large solar farms, wind projects, and grid-scale batteries. The headline requirement is ride-through capability. Instead of dropping offline during routine disturbances, these resources must stay connected and help stabilize the system.

That marks a clear break from past practice. Automatic disconnection made sense when inverter-based generation was a niche player. Today, it is a dominant source of new capacity. Regulators argue that the old rules no longer match the grid that actually exists.

Under the updated standards, qualifying IBRs must support system stability during abnormal conditions and share more consistent performance data with grid operators. Better visibility, FERC says, will help planners and control rooms anticipate problems before they cascade.

For utilities and system operators, the message is unmistakable. Grid modernization is no longer optional. Planning models, interconnection rules, and control room software all need to evolve to handle more active inverter behavior. That shift is fueling demand for advanced monitoring and control tools across the industry.

Battery developers are also paying close attention. Fast-responding storage systems are well suited to meet ride-through and grid support requirements, and analysts see the standards as another tailwind for battery projects, especially in regions facing rising demand from data centers and electrification.

The transition will not be painless. Developers warn of higher upfront costs, and compliance timelines stretch into 2026 in some regions. Regulators acknowledge the friction and have emphasized phased implementation to avoid disruption.

Still, the direction of travel is clear. As renewable generation scales up, grid reliability increasingly depends on how inverter-based resources behave when the system is under stress. With these rules, FERC is betting that smarter standards will lead to a more resilient grid.