King, Risch Urge Energy Department: Don't Downgrade Cybersecurity

Press Release

U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) led a bipartisan letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm voicing their support for the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) and urging the Department to maintain CESER's current leadership structure. Presently, CESER is led by an assistant secretary, underscoring the importance of a strong organization to help secure and protect the U.S. energy sector. The letter is also signed by nine additional senators, including Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine).

"Top officials within the intelligence, defense, and power communities have warned that the United States remains vulnerable to cyberattacks that could result in catastrophic damage to public health and safety, economic security, and national security," the letter read in part.

"We urge you, as Secretary, to continue to prioritize cybersecurity by preserving the CESER office and upholding its leadership at the Assistant Secretary level," the senators continued. "It is imperative that the Department does not march backwards on its responsibilities to the energy sector and the protection of our critical infrastructure given the persistent, growing, and significant threat cyberattacks pose to our nation's economy and national security."

In addition to Senators King, Risch and Collins, signers of the letter include chairman and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.).

Senators King and Risch have repeatedly partnered to stress the importance of improving cybersecurity protections for the nation's grid. Their Securing Energy Infrastructure Act was passed as part of the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act, and established partnerships to utilize engineering concepts to remove vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to access the grid through holes in digital software systems. In December 2019, they led a bipartisan group of senators in a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission emphasizing the dangers of incorporating equipment manufactured by Huawei Technologies Co. into the nation's critical infrastructure.

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