From: ECT.coop

Cyber Security in Capital Spotlight

By Todd H. Cunningham

From meeting with cabinet secretaries to opposing cyber security legislation that could actually make the grid less secure, electric cooperatives are pushing hard to safeguard the nation’s electric transmission system.

NRECA and a handful of other trade groups met with Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at a July 23 session.

The meeting, which involved the electric power and nuclear energy sectors, was part of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council’s effort to jump-start a dialogue between industry and government on grid resiliency.

Electric co-ops were represented by NRECA CEO Glenn English and Duane Highley, president/CEO of Arkansas Electric Co-op Corp.

English emphasized the need for more top-level security clearances for co-op officials. While not every G&T will need a person with such clearance, he noted, having access at the state or regional level would enable co-ops to better validate intelligence and threat information.

According to Laura Marshall Schepis, NRECA senior director, legislative affairs, the meeting provided the opportunity to show senior administration officials the breadth and diversity of the industry and to emphasize that much is being done to care for the grid.

In the latter regard, Schepis noted, electric co-ops have led in creating pragmatic tools for distribution utilities to use in securing smart grid and other assets, such as the Cyber Security Toolkit from NRECA’s Cooperative Research Network.

The industry’s participation in voluntary efforts such as DOE’s Cyber Security Maturity Model is one of many examples of how co-ops are going beyond compliance with mandatory standards they helped develop, added Barry Lawson, NRECA manager, power delivery and reliability.

Meanwhile, on the legislative front, NRECA is opposing Senate consideration of a cyber security bill (S. 3414) recently introduced by Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine. A quick vote on proceeding to consideration is expected, and NRECA and statewide associations are asking senators to oppose it.

The association opposes the bill on multiple grounds, including its provision of new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority to adopt mandatory standards developed outside the North American Electric Reliability Corp. process, which allows for meaningful utility input.

The electric utility sector is the only segment of the economy now subject to mandatory, enforceable reliability and cyber security standards, Schepis noted. “Another layer of regulation is not necessary.”

The bill’s shortcomings in process and substance alike mandate NRECA’s opposition to quick floor consideration, Schepis said. If the Senate rebuffs cloture, she indicated, “We can resume productive negotiations with Sens. Lieberman and Collins” to improve the bill.