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More than 370 organizations took part in GridEx VIII, the North American electricity-sector security exercise conducted by NERC’s Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) in November 2025. It combined two distinct activities: distributed operational play on November 18–19 and a senior-leadership Executive Tabletop on November 20. E-ISAC’s 2025 year-end report also records a 48% participation increase since 2023 and a 70% increase in small- and medium-sized utility participation; those are separate growth measures, not counts of attendees.

How many organizations participated in GridEx VIII?

E-ISAC reported participation from 370+ organizations in its 2025 End-of-Year Report. The same report says overall participation increased 48% since 2023 and participation by small- and medium-sized utilities increased 70%. These figures describe growth over the stated comparison period and category; they are not additional headcounts.

The Executive Tabletop had 175 participants from 70 organizations. That is the count for the tabletop component only, not the total number of people or organizations involved in GridEx VIII. E-ISAC/NERC’s 2025 End-of-Year Report is the source for all four participation figures.

What happened during the exercise?

GridEx VIII was one exercise with two complementary components, rather than two competing events. Distributed Play concentrated on operational response, while the Executive Tabletop brought industry executives and government leaders together for policy-level discussion.

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Component Date and location Format and audience Focus
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NERC’s GridEx VIII Lessons Learned Report, published in March 2026, describes the dates, formats, and objectives of both components.

What did GridEx VIII examine?

Operational response across participating organizations

Distributed Play gave organizations a setting to work through operational responses to scenarios affecting the electricity system. NERC’s report identifies three participation formats: the Standard Scenario, GridEx-in-a-Box Scenario, and GridEx Tabletop Exercise. The distributed design allowed organizations to conduct their own play while remaining part of a broader, interconnected exercise.

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Coordination between energy leaders and governments

The Executive Tabletop was designed to exercise communication and coordination between energy-sector leadership and the U.S. and Canadian governments. Its scenario discussions addressed domestic and geopolitical challenges involving cyber and physical attacks on the grid.

Resilience and interdependencies

The tabletop also examined resilience implications for defense critical electric infrastructure, including joint cyber-defense strategy and policy. Another objective was to explore collaboration between the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council and partners in natural gas, telecommunications, and water and wastewater—sectors whose services can be important to electricity operations and recovery.

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These were exercise objectives, not proof that every participant achieved them or that the grid is secure. NERC says the public lessons-learned report draws observations and recommendations from both components for utilities, government partners, E-ISAC, and other stakeholders preparing for and responding to incidents affecting the North American electric system.

Why were new participation options added?

E-ISAC’s year-end report says GridEx VIII featured two new options: GridEx-in-a-Box and the Tabletop Scenario. E-ISAC presents them as ways to make participation more accessible to organizations with different sizes and capabilities. The report includes anonymous participant testimonials about scenario quality and adapting materials for smaller teams, but does not identify the speakers or their roles.

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What happens next?

As of NERC’s program page accessed October 4, 2026, GridEx IX Distributed Play is scheduled for November 16–17, 2027, and planner registration is expected to open at the end of September 2026. Scheduling and registration details can change, so confirm current information on NERC’s GridEx program page.

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