Participation in the 2025 GridEx -- the largest cyber and physical grid security exercise in North America -- increased by 48 percent from the last exercise in 2023 with more than 370 organizations simultaneously exercising their emergency preparedness plans and protocols.
GridEx VIII took place on Nov. 18 and 19, followed by a tabletop exercise on Nov. 20 and included officials with APPA and public power utilities.
Hosted every two years by NERC’s Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC), this year’s scenario reflected real-world cyber and physical threats and was designed to stress-test crisis response and recovery plans.
A public report will be developed focused on the lessons learned during the exercise with input from participants.
Recommendations arising from previous exercises, including the desire to have greater participation by Canadian partners and the need for enhanced accessibility for a diverse range of participants from GridEx VII, have been translated into action.
As a result, two new participation options were featured in this week’s exercise: GridEx-in-a-Box and the Tabletop Scenario -- both of which provide enhanced accessibility to new organizations and organizations of varying sizes and capabilities.
“This year, we saw a 70 percent increase in participation by small- and medium-sized utilities and higher participation from our Canadian partners, both of which were recommendations from previous exercise reports,” said Michael Ball, NERC senior vice president and E-ISAC chief executive officer. “Other critical infrastructure sectors, such as natural gas, water/wastewater, and telecommunications also engaged in the exercise. The increase in participation and these cross-border, cross-industry relationships reflects a high level of engagement and collaboration that supports our collective defense and overall resilience.”
The exercise’s invitation-only executive tabletop session brought together industry and government executives to focus on strategic and policy-level issues raised during the exercise.
Participants in the exercise included APPA President and CEO Scott Corwin, Adrienne Lotto, Senior Vice President, Grid Security, Technical & Operations Services, Tom Kent, President and CEO of Nebraska Public Power District, Dawn Lindell, General Manager and CEO of Seattle City Light, and Dan Beans, CEO/Electric Utility Director at the City of Roseville, Calif.
"Exercises like GridEx are critical to improving the response capability of public power. APPA undertook a concerted effort to increase event participation, especially resource constrained members who do not get the opportunity to regularly exercise their response plans," said Michael Coe, Vice President, Physical and Cyber Security Programs, at APPA.
The public report on GridEx VIII will be released in the first quarter of 2026.
