What is NERC GADS?

If you own a generating unit of 20 MW or more in North America, you report its outages to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) every quarter through the Generating Availability Data System (GADS). Most teams treat that as a compliance filing. It is also the record grid planners use to judge how much capacity they can rely on, and in capacity markets it sets the outage rate behind a unit’s accredited capacity. Here is what NERC GADS is, who has to report, what data it collects, and why getting it right matters.

What is NERC GADS

NERC GADS is the database in which generator owners record when their units are available, when they are out of service, and why. Owners load design data once for each reportable unit and review it every year. Every quarter they submit monthly performance data and an event record for each reportable outage and derate, with a cause code for each.

GADS reporting became mandatory on January 1, 2012 for conventional units of 50 MW or more and on January 1, 2013 for conventional units of 20 MW or more. Wind plants followed, and solar reporting became mandatory in 2024. Several groups depend on the data:

• Grid planners estimate how much generating capacity will be available at peak demand.
• Plant operators find recurring equipment failures and schedule maintenance ahead of them.
• Owners benchmark unit availability against similar units across the industry.
• NERC and regulators assess reliability trends and decide where standards need to change.
• Independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission organizations (RTOs) calculate outage statistics such as the equivalent demand forced outage rate (EFORd) to accredit capacity.

Who must report to NERC GADS

GADS reporting is mandatory for Generator Owners whose plants meet these thresholds under the 2026 GADS Data Reporting Instructions (DRI):

The thresholds apply the same way to investor-owned utilities, municipal systems, cooperatives and independent power producers. The obligation rests on NERC’s GADS Section 1600 data request, and the current version, which added solar, took effect January 1, 2024. Solar reporting started at 100 MW in 2024 and dropped to 20 MW in 2025, which brought far more solar plants into scope.

What data GADS collects

Each reportable unit submits three categories of data. Together they show what the unit is, how it ran, and what took it out of service.

Design data is what makes the other two comparable. A combined-cycle plant, for example, reports its gas turbine manufacturer, heat recovery steam generator and steam turbine configuration, so analysts can compare its outages with those of similar plants. A gas peaking unit that reports 450 starts in a quarter at a 35% capacity factor shows its cycling duty clearly when read against that design data. A coal unit’s 72-hour forced outage from a boiler tube failure is reported with the cause code for the boiler tube system, which lets NERC track how often that failure recurs across the fleet.

How and when GADS data is submitted

GADS data is due within 45 days after each calendar quarter: February 15, May 15, August 15 and November 15. A deadline that falls on a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day, and the February 15 submission also carries any updates to the prior year’s data.

Conventional units submit through webE-GADS, hosted by Open Access Technology International (OATI). Wind and solar plants submit through NERC’s GADS Wind and GADS Solar applications, and every user needs a webCARES digital certificate. Submissions that fail validation are corrected and resubmitted. The full filing procedure is in NERC GADS reporting instructions.

Why GADS data accuracy matters

NERC does not fine late conventional GADS reports. Regional entities and NERC work with late filers to get the data submitted, and an entity that refuses to cooperate can be referred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Inaccurate data carries the larger cost. PJM Interconnection and the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) use EFORd to accredit capacity, and EFORd is calculated from GADS events. A forced outage coded as a maintenance outage, or an event logged with the wrong start time, changes the unit’s statistics for the whole reporting period. FERC has assessed civil penalties and disgorgement against a combined-cycle plant owner whose outage data submitted to PJM was inaccurate.

NERC, its regional entities and FERC

NERC is the Electric Reliability Organization for North America. It sets and enforces mandatory reliability standards for the bulk power system across the United States, Canada and part of Mexico, and it administers GADS. NERC is not a government agency, but FERC certified it in that role in 2006, and it can assess penalties for violations of its standards.

NERC’s standards became mandatory after the 2003 Northeast blackout, which cut power to about 50 million people. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 made the standards enforceable, and NERC monitors compliance through six regional entities. Each regional entity is the contact for GADS reporters in its footprint, including notice of a missed deadline.

NERC and FERC regulate different things. NERC sets the technical rules that keep the grid physically reliable, while FERC regulates wholesale electricity markets and rates and oversees NERC.

GADS reporting best practices

Six practices keep GADS reporting accurate and on time:

1. Capture events at the source. Connect control systems to GADS reporting so outage start and end times come from the unit rather than from manual logs.
2. Validate before you submit. Check completeness, valid ranges, overlapping events and cause codes against the unit’s equipment before the file goes to NERC.
3. Run a quarterly calendar. Set milestones and owners for each quarter, with time for correction before the 45-day deadline.
4. Name one GADS coordinator. Operations, maintenance and compliance all contribute data, and one owner who understands both plant operations and the reporting rules keeps it consistent.
5. Benchmark every quarter. Compare each unit’s statistics with similar units and look for causes that keep recurring.
6. Track DRI changes. NERC publishes updated Data Reporting Instructions each year, so update internal procedures when a new version takes effect.

Accurate GADS data with PowerGADS

Accurate EFORd starts with accurate events. PowerGADS captures outage events directly from control systems, so start and end times come from the unit, and its 200+ automated validations catch coding errors before submission. PowerGADS is used to report about 70% of U.S. generating units, completes full rollout in under four weeks, and trains users in under an hour.

Schedule a Demo to see how PowerGADS fits your fleet’s reporting.