116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 359 

AN ACT 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

•HR 359 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enhancing Grid Secu3 rity through Public-Private Partnerships Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO PROMOTE AND ADVANCE PHYSICAL 

5 SECURITY AND CYBERSECURITY OF ELEC6 TRIC UTILITIES. 

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

8 coordination with relevant Federal agencies and in con9 sultation with State regulatory authorities, industry stake10 holders, and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the 

11 Secretary determines appropriate, shall carry out a pro12 gram to— 

13 (1) develop, and provide for voluntary imple14 mentation of, maturity models, self-assessments, and 

15 auditing methods for assessing the physical security 

16 and cybersecurity of electric utilities; 

17 (2) provide training to electric utilities to ad18 dress and mitigate cybersecurity supply chain man19 agement risks; 

20 (3) increase opportunities for sharing best prac21 tices and data collection within the electric sector; 

22 (4) assist with cybersecurity training for electric 

23 utilities; 

24 (5) advance the cybersecurity of third-party 

25 vendors that work in partnerships with electric utili26 ties; and 
3 

•HR 359 EH

1 (6) provide technical assistance for electric utili2 ties subject to the program. 

3 (b) SCOPE.—In carrying out the program under sub4 section (a), the Secretary of Energy shall— 

5 (1) take into consideration different sizes of 

6 electric utilities and the regions that such electric 

7 utilities serve; 

8 (2) prioritize electric utilities with fewer avail9 able resources due to size or region; and 

10 (3) to the extent practicable, utilize and lever11 age existing Department of Energy programs. 

12 (c) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Information 

13 provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government pur14 suant to this section— 

15 (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under sec16 tion 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and 

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

18 State, political subdivision or tribal authority pursu19 ant to any Federal, State, political subdivision, or 

20 tribal law requiring public disclosure of information 

21 or records. 

22 SEC. 3. REPORT ON CYBERSECURITY AND DISTRIBUTION 

23 SYSTEMS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, in co25 ordination with relevant Federal agencies and in consulta-
4 

•HR 359 EH

1 tion with State regulatory authorities, industry stake2 holders, and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the 

3 Secretary determines appropriate, shall submit to Con4 gress a report that assesses— 

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

6 for enhancing the physical security and cybersecurity 

7 of electricity distribution systems to address threats 

8 to, and vulnerabilities of, such electricity distribution 

9 systems; and 

10 (2) implementation of such priorities, policies, 

11 procedures, and actions, including an estimate of po12 tential costs and benefits of such implementation, in13 cluding any public-private cost-sharing opportunities. 

14 (b) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Information 

15 provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government pur16 suant to this section— 

17 (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under sec18 tion 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and 

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

20 State, political subdivision or tribal authority pursu21 ant to any Federal, State, political subdivision, or 

22 tribal law requiring public disclosure of information 

23 or records. 
5 

•HR 359 EH

1 SEC. 4. ELECTRICITY INTERRUPTION INFORMATION. 

2 (a) INTERRUPTION COST ESTIMATE CALCULATOR.— 

3 The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with relevant 

4 Federal agencies and in consultation with State regulatory 

5 authorities, industry stakeholders, and the Electric Reli6 ability Organization, as the Secretary determines appro7 priate, shall update the Interruption Cost Estimate Calcu8 lator, as often as appropriate and feasible, but not less 

9 than once every 2 years. 

10 (b) INDICES.—The Secretary of Energy, in coordina11 tion with relevant Federal agencies and in consultation 

12 with State regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, 

13 and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the Secretary 

14 determines appropriate, shall, as often as appropriate and 

15 feasible, update the following: 

16 (1) The System Average Interruption Duration 

17 Index. 

18 (2) The System Average Interruption Fre19 quency Index. 

20 (3) The Customer Average Interruption Dura21 tion Index. 

22 (c) SURVEY.—The Administrator of the Energy In23 formation Administration shall collect information on elec24 tricity interruption costs, if available, from a representa25 tive sample of owners of electric grid assets through a bi26 ennial survey. 
6 

•HR 359 EH

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). 

Passed the House of Representatives September 29, 

2020. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 359 

AN ACT 

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 cy-