The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is a regulatory authority responsible for developing and enforcing reliability standards for the bulk power system in North America. Covering the United States, Canada, and part of Mexico, NERC's mission is to ensure the secure and reliable operation of the interconnected electric grid. NERC oversees system planning, operations, cybersecurity, and compliance through a network of regional entities. Its standards are mandatory and include critical reliability and cybersecurity guidelines like CIP (Critical Infrastructure Protection).