II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1241 

To provide for the modernization, security, and resiliency of the electric 

grid, to require the Secretary of Energy to carry out programs for 

research, development, demonstration, and information-sharing for cybersecurity for the energy sector, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2015 

Ms. CANTWELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the modernization, security, and resiliency 

of the electric grid, to require the Secretary of Energy 

to carry out programs for research, development, demonstration, and information-sharing for cybersecurity for 

the energy sector, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhanced Grid Secu5 rity Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

2 means the Department of Energy. 

3 (2) ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 

4 utility’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

5 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

6 (3) ES-ISAC.—The term ‘‘ES-ISAC’’ means 

7 the Electricity Sector Information Sharing and 

8 Analysis Center. 

9 (4) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na10 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 

11 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

12 U.S.C. 15801). 

13 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of Energy. 

15 (6) SECTOR-SPECIFIC AGENCY.—The term 

16 ‘‘Sector-Specific Agency’’ has the meaning given the 

17 term in the Presidential policy directive entitled 

18 ‘‘Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience’’, 

19 numbered 21, and dated February 12, 2013. 

20 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AS 

21 SECTOR-SPECIFIC AGENCY FOR CYBERSECU22 RITY FOR THE ENERGY SECTOR. 

23 In accordance with the Presidential policy directive 

24 entitled ‘‘Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience’’, 

25 numbered 21, and dated February 12, 2013, and this Act, 


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1 the Department shall be the lead Sector-Specific Agency 

2 for cybersecurity for the energy sector. 

3 SEC. 4. CYBERSECURITY FOR THE ENERGY SECTOR RE4 SEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRA5 TION PROGRAM. 

6 The Secretary, in consultation with appropriate Fed7 eral agencies, the energy sector, the States, and other 

8 stakeholders, shall carry out a program— 

9 (1) to develop advanced cybersecurity applica10 tions and technologies for the energy sector— 

11 (A) to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities, 

12 including— 

13 (i) dependencies on other critical in14 frastructure; and 

15 (ii) impacts from weather, climate 

16 change, and fuel supply; and 

17 (B) to advance the security of field devices 

18 and third-party control systems, including— 

19 (i) systems for generation, trans20 mission, distribution, end use, and market 

21 functions; 

22 (ii) specific electric grid elements in23 cluding advanced metering, demand re24 sponse, distributed generation, and elec25 tricity storage; 


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1 (iii) forensic analysis of infected sys2 tems; and 

3 (iv) secure communications; 

4 (2) to leverage electric grid architecture as a 

5 means to assess risks to the energy sector, including 

6 by implementing an all-hazards approach to commu7 nications infrastructure, control systems architec8 ture, and power systems architecture; 

9 (3) to perform pilot demonstration projects with 

10 the energy sector to gain experience with new tech11 nologies; and 

12 (4) to develop workforce development curricula 

13 for energy sector-related cybersecurity. 

14 SEC. 5. ENERGY SECTOR COMPONENT TESTING FOR 

15 CYBERRESILIENCE PROGRAM. 

16 The Secretary shall carry out a program— 

17 (1) to establish a cybertesting and mitigation 

18 program to identify vulnerabilities of energy sector 

19 supply chain products to known threats; 

20 (2) to oversee third-party cybertesting; and 

21 (3) to develop procurement guidelines for en22 ergy sector supply chain components. 

23 SEC. 6. ENERGY SECTOR OPERATIONAL SUPPORT FOR 

24 CYBERRESILIENCE PROGRAM. 

25 The Secretary shall carry out a program— 


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1 (1) to enhance and periodically test— 

2 (A) the emergency response capabilities of 

3 the Department; and 

4 (B) the coordination of the Department 

5 with other agencies, the National Laboratories, 

6 and private industry; 

7 (2) to expand cooperation of the Department 

8 with the intelligence communities for energy sector9 related threat collection and analysis; 

10 (3) to enhance the tools of the Department and 

11 ES-ISAC for monitoring the status of the energy 

12 sector; 

13 (4) to expand industry participation in ES14 ISAC; and 

15 (5) to provide technical assistance to small elec16 tric utilities for purposes of assessing cybermaturity 

17 posture. 

18 SEC. 7. MODELING AND ASSESSING ENERGY INFRASTRUC19 TURE RISK. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop an 

21 advanced energy security program to secure energy net22 works, including electric, natural gas, and oil exploration, 

23 transmission, and delivery. 

24 (b) SECURITY AND RESILIENCY OBJECTIVE.—The 

25 objective of the program developed under subsection (a) 


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1 is to increase the functional preservation of the electric 

2 grid operations or natural gas and oil operations in the 

3 face of natural and human-made threats and hazards, in4 cluding electric magnetic pulse and geomagnetic disturb5 ances. 

6 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the pro7 gram developed under subsection (a), the Secretary may— 

8 (1) develop capabilities to identify 

9 vulnerabilities and critical components that pose 

10 major risks to grid security if destroyed or impaired; 

11 (2) provide modeling at the national level to 

12 predict impacts from natural or human-made events; 

13 (3) develop a maturity model for physical secu14 rity and cybersecurity; 

15 (4) conduct exercises and assessments to iden16 tify and mitigate vulnerabilities to the electric grid, 

17 including providing mitigation recommendations; 

18 (5) conduct research hardening solutions for 

19 critical components of the electric grid; 

20 (6) conduct research mitigation and recovery 

21 solutions for critical components of the electric grid; 

22 and 

23 (7) provide technical assistance to States and 

24 other entities for standards and risk analysis. 


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1 SEC. 8. LEVERAGING EXISTING PROGRAMS. 

2 The programs established under this Act shall be car3 ried out consistent with— 

4 (1) the report of the Department entitled 

5 ‘‘Roadmap to Achieve Energy Delivery Systems Cy6 bersecurity’’ and dated 2011; 

7 (2) existing programs of the Department; and 

8 (3) any associated strategic framework that 

9 links together academic and National Laboratory re10 searchers, electric utilities, manufacturers, and any 

11 other relevant private industry organizations. 

12 SEC. 9. STUDY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta15 tion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and 

16 the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, shall 

17 conduct a study to explore alternative management struc18 tures and funding mechanisms to expand industry mem19 bership and participation in ES-ISAC. 

20 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the ap21 propriate committees of Congress a report describing the 

22 results of the study conducted under subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 

4 through 2022. 

Æ 


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