Enhancing Grid Security Through Public-Private Partnerships Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 359) to provide for certain programs and developments in the Department of Energy concerning the cybersecurity and vulnerabilities of, and physical threats to, the electric grid, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 359
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Enhancing Grid Security through Public-Private Partnerships Act''. SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO PROMOTE AND ADVANCE PHYSICAL SECURITY AND CYBERSECURITY OF ELECTRIC UTILITIES.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies and in consultation with State regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall carry out a program to--
(1) develop, and provide for voluntary implementation of, maturity models, self-assessments, and auditing methods for assessing the physical security and cybersecurity of electric utilities;
(2) provide training to electric utilities to address and mitigate cybersecurity supply chain management risks;
(3) increase opportunities for sharing best practices and data collection within the electric sector;
(4) assist with cybersecurity training for electric utilities;
(5) advance the cybersecurity of third-party vendors that work in partnerships with electric utilities; and
(6) provide technical assistance for electric utilities subject to the program.
(b) Scope.--In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Secretary of Energy shall--
(1) take into consideration different sizes of electric utilities and the regions that such electric utilities serve;
(2) prioritize electric utilities with fewer available resources due to size or region; and
(3) to the extent practicable, utilize and leverage existing Department of Energy programs.
(c) Protection of Information.--Information provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government pursuant to this section--
(1) shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and
(2) shall not be made available by any Federal, State, political subdivision or tribal authority pursuant to any Federal, State, political subdivision, or tribal law requiring public disclosure of information or records. SEC. 3. REPORT ON CYBERSECURITY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies and in consultation with State regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall submit to Congress a report that assesses--
(1) priorities, policies, procedures, and actions for enhancing the physical security and cybersecurity of electricity distribution systems to address threats to, and vulnerabilities of, such electricity distribution systems; and
(2) implementation of such priorities, policies, procedures, and actions, including an estimate of potential costs and benefits of such implementation, including any public-private cost-sharing opportunities.
(b) Protection of Information.--Information provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government pursuant to this section--
(1) shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and
(2) shall not be made available by any Federal, State, political subdivision or tribal authority pursuant to any Federal, State, political subdivision, or tribal law requiring public disclosure of information or records. SEC. 4. ELECTRICITY INTERRUPTION INFORMATION.
(a) Interruption Cost Estimate Calculator.--The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies and in consultation with State regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall update the Interruption Cost Estimate Calculator, as often as appropriate and feasible, but not less than once every 2 years.
(b) Indices.--The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies and in consultation with State regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall, as often as appropriate and feasible, update the following:
(1) The System Average Interruption Duration Index.
(2) The System Average Interruption Frequency Index.
(3) The Customer Average Interruption Duration Index.
(c) Survey.--The Administrator of the Energy Information Administration shall collect information on electricity interruption costs, if available, from a representative sample of owners of electric grid assets through a biennial survey. SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In the Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Electric reliability organization.--The term ``Electric Reliability Organization'' has the meaning given such term in section 215(a)(2) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o(a)(2)).
(2) Electric utility.--The term ``electric utility'' has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796).
(3) State regulatory authority.--The term ``State regulatory authority'' has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796).
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Mr. PALLONE. 359.
Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by acknowledging the leadership of two of my Energy and Commerce Committee colleagues, Representative McNerney of California and Representative Latta of Ohio, for introducing H.R. 359, the Enhancing Grid Security Through Public-Private Partnerships Act.
This bill will go a long way in addressing both the physical and cybersecurity of the Nation's utilities.
H.R. 359 directs the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Electric Reliability Organization, States, other Federal agencies, and industry stakeholders, to create and implement a program to enhance the physical and cybersecurity of electric utilities.
Now, some of the critical provisions within this bill include the voluntary implementation of self-assessments, maturity modeling, and auditing.
This bill also includes cybersecurity training in order to help mitigate supply chain risk.
Utilities would also be encouraged to share best practices and data collection within the electric sector, while also improving the cybersecurity of third-party utility vendors.
H.R. 359 also directs the Secretary of Energy to deliver a report to Congress on general cybersecurity concerns and distribution systems.
Any information that is provided to the Department of Energy under this program would be protected to ensure the confidentiality of this sensitive information. And like the other two cybersecurity bills we already have passed today; this legislation requires the Secretary of Energy to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and other relevant Federal agencies to ensure good communication and smooth implementation across the government.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, the bill instructs the Secretary of Energy to update the Interruption Cost Estimate, or ICE, Calculator at least once every 2 years.
The ICE Calculator, which was developed through a partnership between the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley Lab and Nexant, Inc., is an electric reliability planning tool that can be used for estimating electricity interruption costs and the benefits associated with reliability improvements.
So, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 359 is an important piece of legislation that will help address the security of America's electric utilities, and I urge all my colleagues to support this bill.
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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I also ask all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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