II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2269 

To secure the bulk-power system in the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. MARSHALL, and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To secure the bulk-power system in the United States. 

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 ‘‘Protect American 

5 Power Infrastructure Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SECURING THE BULK-POWER SYSTEM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) BULK-POWER SYSTEM.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘bulk-power 

10 system’’ has the meaning given the term in secVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:11 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2269.IS S2269

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1 tion 215(a) of the Federal Power Act (16 

2 U.S.C. 824o(a)). 

3 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘bulk-power 

4 system’’ includes transmission lines rated at 

5 69,000 volts (69 kV) or higher. 

6 (2) COVERED EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

7 equipment’’ means items used in bulk-power system 

8 substations, control rooms, or power generating sta9 tions, including— 

10 (A)(i) power transformers with a low-side 

11 voltage rating of 69,000 volts (69 kV) or high12 er; and 

13 (ii) associated control and protection sys14 tems, such as load tap changers, cooling sys15 tems, and sudden pressure relays; 

16 (B)(i) generator step-up (GSU) trans17 formers with a high-side voltage rating of 

18 69,000 volts (69 kV) or higher; and 

19 (ii) associated control and protection sys20 tems, such as load tap changers, cooling sys21 tems, and sudden pressure relays; 

22 (C) circuit breakers operating at 69,000 

23 volts (69 kV) or higher; 

24 (D) reactive power equipment rated at 

25 69,000 volts (69 kV) or higher; and 


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1 (E) microprocessing software and firmware 

2 that— 

3 (i) is installed in any equipment de4 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (D); 

5 or 

6 (ii) is used in the operation of any of 

7 the items described in those subpara8 graphs. 

9 (3) CRITICAL DEFENSE FACILITY.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘critical de11 fense facility’’ means a facility that— 

12 (i) is critical to the defense of the 

13 United States; and 

14 (ii) is vulnerable to a disruption of the 

15 supply of electric energy provided to that 

16 facility by an external provider. 

17 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘critical de18 fense facility’’ includes a facility designated as 

19 a critical defense facility by the Secretary of 

20 Energy under section 215A(c) of the Federal 

21 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o–1(c)). 

22 (4) CRITICAL ELECTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

23 The term ‘‘critical electric infrastructure’’ has the 

24 meaning given the term in section 215A(a) of the 

25 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o–1(a)). 


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1 (5) DEFENSE CRITICAL ELECTRIC INFRASTRUC2 TURE.—The term ‘‘defense critical electric infra3 structure’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

4 215A(a) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o– 

5 1(a)). 

6 (6) ENTITY.—The term ‘‘entity’’ means a part7 nership, association, trust, joint venture, corpora8 tion, group, subgroup, or other organization. 

9 (7) FOREIGN ADVERSARY.—The term ‘‘foreign 

10 adversary’’ means any foreign government or foreign 

11 nongovernment person engaged in a long-term pat12 tern or serious instances of conduct significantly ad13 verse to— 

14 (A) the national security of— 

15 (i) the United States; or 

16 (ii) allies of the United States; or 

17 (B) the security and safety of United 

18 States persons. 

19 (8) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in20 dividual or entity. 

21 (9) PROCUREMENT.—The term ‘‘procurement’’ 

22 means the process of acquiring, through purchase, 

23 by contract and through the use of appropriated 

24 funds, supplies or services, including installation 


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1 services, by and for the use of the Federal Govern2 ment. 

3 (10) TRANSACTION.—The term ‘‘transaction’’ 

4 means the acquisition, importation, transfer, or in5 stallation of any bulk-power system electric equip6 ment by any person, or with respect to any property, 

7 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. 

8 (11) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

9 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

10 (A) an individual who is— 

11 (i) a citizen of the United States; or 

12 (ii) an alien lawfully admitted for per13 manent residence in the United States; 

14 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

15 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

16 United States, including a foreign branch of 

17 such an entity; and 

18 (C) any person in the United States. 

19 (b) PROHIBITION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro21 vided in this subsection, no person that is the owner 

22 or operator of defense critical electric infrastructure 

23 may engage in any transaction relating to that de24 fense critical electric infrastructure that involves any 

25 covered equipment in which a foreign adversary has 


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1 an ownership or any other interest, including 

2 through an interest in a contract for the provision 

3 of the covered equipment, over which a foreign ad4 versary has control, or with respect to which a for5 eign adversary exercises influence, including any 

6 transaction that— 

7 (A) is initiated after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act; and 

9 (B) the Secretary of Energy, in coordina10 tion with the Director of the Office of Manage11 ment and Budget and in consultation with the 

12 Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Home13 land Security, the Director of National Intel14 ligence, and the heads of other appropriate 

15 Federal agencies, as determined by the Sec16 retary of Energy, determines— 

17 (i) involves covered equipment de18 signed, developed, manufactured, or sup19 plied by persons owned by, controlled by, 

20 or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of 

21 a foreign adversary; and 

22 (ii) poses an undue risk of cata23 strophic effects on the security or resil24 iency of defense critical electric infrastruc25 ture in the United States. 


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1 (2) MITIGATION MEASURES.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of En3 ergy, in consultation with the heads of other 

4 Federal agencies, as appropriate, may— 

5 (i) in accordance with subparagraph 

6 (B), approve a transaction or class of 

7 transactions prohibited under paragraph 

8 (1); and 

9 (ii) design or negotiate measures to 

10 mitigate any concerns identified in making 

11 determinations under paragraph (1)(B) 

12 with respect to that transaction or class of 

13 transactions. 

14 (B) PRECONDITION TO APPROVAL OF OTH15 ERWISE PROHIBITED TRANSACTION.—The Sec16 retary of Energy shall implement the measures 

17 described in subparagraph (A)(ii) before ap18 proving a transaction or class of transactions 

19 that would otherwise be prohibited under para20 graph (1). 

21 (3) APPLICATION.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The prohibition de23 scribed in paragraph (1) shall apply to a trans24 action described in that paragraph regardless of 

25 whether— 


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1 (i) a contract has been entered into 

2 with respect to that transaction before the 

3 date of enactment of this Act; or 

4 (ii) a license or permit has been 

5 issued or granted with respect to that 

6 transaction before the date of enactment of 

7 this Act. 

8 (B) CONTRARY LAW.—The prohibition de9 scribed in paragraph (1) shall apply to each 

10 transaction described in that paragraph only to 

11 the extent not otherwise provided by— 

12 (i) another statute; or 

13 (ii) a regulation, order, directive, or li14 cense issued pursuant to this section. 

15 (4) PREQUALIFICATION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of En17 ergy, in consultation with the heads of other 

18 Federal agencies, as appropriate, may— 

19 (i) establish and publish criteria for 

20 recognizing particular covered equipment 

21 and particular vendors in the market for 

22 covered equipment as prequalified for fu23 ture transactions; and 


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1 (ii) apply those criteria to establish 

2 and publish, and update, as necessary, a 

3 list of prequalified equipment and vendors. 

4 (B) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this 

5 paragraph limits the authority of the Secretary 

6 of Energy under this subsection to prohibit or 

7 otherwise regulate any transaction involving 

8 prequalified equipment or vendors. 

9 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

10 (1) IMPLEMENTATION BY THE SECRETARY OF

11 ENERGY.—The Secretary of Energy shall take such 

12 actions as the Secretary determines to be necessary 

13 to implement this section, including— 

14 (A) directing the timing and manner of the 

15 cessation of pending and future transactions 

16 prohibited under subsection (b)(1); 

17 (B) adopting appropriate rules and regula18 tions; and 

19 (C) exercising any applicable power grant20 ed to the President by the International Emer21 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

22 seq.) and delegated to the Secretary. 

23 (2) REQUIRED RULEMAKING.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 150 

25 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 


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1 the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with 

2 the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security, the Director of National 

4 Intelligence, and the heads of other appropriate 

5 Federal agencies, as determined by the Sec6 retary of Energy, shall issue rules or regula7 tions to implement this section. 

8 (B) AUTHORITY.—A rule or regulation 

9 issued under subparagraph (A) may— 

10 (i) determine that particular countries 

11 or persons are foreign adversaries exclu12 sively for the purposes of this section; 

13 (ii) identify persons owned by, con14 trolled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or 

15 direction of, foreign adversaries exclusively 

16 for the purposes of this section; 

17 (iii) identify particular equipment or 

18 countries with respect to which trans19 actions involving covered equipment war20 rant particular scrutiny under this section; 

21 and 

22 (iv) identify a mechanism and relevant 

23 factors for the negotiation of agreements 

24 to mitigate concerns identified in making 

25 determinations under subsection (b)(1)(B). 


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1 (3) IDENTIFICATION OF CERTAIN EQUIP2 MENT.—As soon as practicable after the date of en3 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy, in con4 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Sec5 retary of the Interior, the Secretary of Homeland 

6 Security, the Director of National Intelligence, the 

7 Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Author8 ity, and the heads of other appropriate Federal 

9 agencies, as determined by the Secretary of Energy, 

10 shall— 

11 (A) identify existing covered equipment 

12 that— 

13 (i) is designed, developed, manufac14 tured, or supplied by persons owned by, 

15 controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction 

16 or direction of a foreign adversary; and 

17 (ii) poses an undue risk of cata18 strophic effects on the security or resil19 iency of critical electric infrastructure in 

20 the United States; and 

21 (B) develop recommendations on ways to 

22 identify, isolate, monitor, or replace any covered 

23 equipment identified under subparagraph (A) 

24 as soon as practicable. 


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1 (4) COORDINATION AND INFORMATION SHAR2 ING.—The Secretary of Energy shall work with the 

3 Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, 

4 the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of 

5 National Intelligence, the Board of Directors of the 

6 Tennessee Valley Authority, and the heads of other 

7 appropriate Federal agencies, as determined by the 

8 Secretary of Energy, to protect critical defense fa9 cilities from national security threats through— 

10 (A) the coordination of the procurement of 

11 energy infrastructure by the Federal Govern12 ment; and 

13 (B) the sharing of risk information and 

14 risk management practices to inform that pro15 curement. 

16 (5) REQUIREMENT.—This section shall be im17 plemented— 

18 (A) in a manner that is consistent with all 

19 other applicable laws; and 

20 (B) subject to the availability of appropria21 tions. 

22 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of En23 ergy shall submit to Congress periodic reports describing 


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1 any progress made in implementing, or otherwise relating 

2 to the implementation of, this section. 

Æ 


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