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Union Calendar No. 202 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 359 

[Report No. 116–254] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2019 

Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself and Mr. LATTA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

OCTOBER 28, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Mr. VAN DREW and Mr. FITZPATRICK

OCTOBER 28, 2019 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
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•HR 359 RH

A BILL 

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. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
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•HR 359 RH

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 ‘‘Enhancing Grid Secu5 rity through Public-Private Partnerships Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO PROMOTE AND ADVANCE PHYSICAL 

7 SECURITY AND CYBERSECURITY OF ELEC8 TRIC UTILITIES. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Energy, in 

10 consultation with State regulatory authorities, industry 

11 stakeholders, the Electric Reliability Organization, and 

12 other Federal agencies the Secretary determines appro13 priate, shall carry out a program to— 

14 (1) develop, and provide for voluntary imple15 mentation of, maturity models, self-assessments, and 

16 auditing methods for assessing the physical security 

17 and cybersecurity of electric utilities; 

18 (2) provide training to electric utilities to ad19 dress and mitigate cybersecurity supply chain man20 agement risks; 

21 (3) increase opportunities for sharing best prac22 tices and data collection within the electric sector; 

23 (4) assist with cybersecurity training for electric 

24 utilities; 


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•HR 359 RH

1 (5) advance the cybersecurity of third-party 

2 vendors that work in partnerships with electric utili3 ties; and 

4 (6) provide technical assistance for electric utili5 ties subject to the program. 

6 (b) SCOPE.—In carrying out the program under sub7 section (a), the Secretary of Energy shall— 

8 (1) take into consideration different sizes of 

9 electric utilities and the regions that such electric 

10 utilities serve; 

11 (2) prioritize electric utilities with fewer avail12 able resources due to size or region; and 

13 (3) to the extent practicable, utilize and lever14 age existing Department of Energy programs. 

15 (c) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Information 

16 provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government pur17 suant to this section— 

18 (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under sec19 tion 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and 

20 (2) shall not be made available by any Federal, 

21 State, political subdivision or tribal authority pursu22 ant to any Federal, State, political subdivision, or 

23 tribal law requiring public disclosure of information 

24 or records. 


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•HR 359 RH

1 SEC. 3. REPORT ON CYBERSECURITY AND DISTRIBUTION 

2 SYSTEMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, in con4 sultation with State regulatory authorities, industry stake5 holders, and other Federal agencies the Secretary deter6 mines appropriate, shall submit to Congress a report that 

7 assesses— 

8 (1) priorities, policies, procedures, and actions 

9 for enhancing the physical security and cybersecurity 

10 of electricity distribution systems to address threats 

11 to, and vulnerabilities of, such electricity distribution 

12 systems; and 

13 (2) implementation of such priorities, policies, 

14 procedures, and actions, including an estimate of po15 tential costs and benefits of such implementation, in16 cluding any public-private cost-sharing opportunities. 

17 (b) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Information 

18 provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government pur19 suant to this section— 

20 (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under sec21 tion 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and 

22 (2) shall not be made available by any Federal, 

23 State, political subdivision or tribal authority pursu24 ant to any Federal, State, political subdivision, or 

25 tribal law requiring public disclosure of information 

26 or records. 


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•HR 359 RH

1 SEC. 4. ELECTRICITY INTERRUPTION INFORMATION. 

2 (a) INTERRUPTION COST ESTIMATE CALCULATOR.— 

3 The Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Federal 

4 Energy Regulatory Commission, State regulatory authori5 ties, industry stakeholders, and other Federal agencies the 

6 Secretary determines appropriate, shall update the Inter7 ruption Cost Estimate Calculator, as often as appropriate 

8 and feasible, but not less than once every 2 years. 

9 (b) INDICES.—The Secretary of Energy, in consulta10 tion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

11 State regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, and 

12 other Federal agencies the Secretary determines appro13 priate, shall, as often as appropriate and feasible, update 

14 the following: 

15 (1) The System Average Interruption Duration 

16 Index. 

17 (2) The System Average Interruption Fre18 quency Index. 

19 (3) The Customer Average Interruption Dura20 tion Index. 

21 (c) SURVEY.—The Administrator of the Energy In22 formation Administration shall collect information on elec23 tricity interruption costs, if available, from a representa24 tive sample of owners of electric grid assets through a bi25 ennial survey. 


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•HR 359 RH

1 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In the Act, the following definitions apply: 

3 (1) ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ORGANIZATION.— 

4 The term ‘‘Electric Reliability Organization’’ has the 

5 meaning given such term in section 215(a)(2) of the 

6 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o(a)(2)). 

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

8 utility’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

9 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

10 (3) STATE REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The 

11 term ‘‘State regulatory authority’’ has the meaning 

12 given such term in section 3 of the Federal Power 

13 Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 202 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 359 

[Report No. 116–254] 

A BILL 

To provide for certain programs and developments 

poses. threats to, the electric grid, and for other purbersecurity and vulnerabilities of, and physical in the Department of Energy concerning the cyOCTOBER 28, 2019 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS