I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 359 

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 

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. 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO PROMOTE AND ADVANCE PHYSICAL 

2 SECURITY AND CYBERSECURITY OF ELEC3 TRIC UTILITIES. 

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

5 consultation with State regulatory authorities, industry 

6 stakeholders, the Electric Reliability Organization, and 

7 other Federal agencies the Secretary determines appro8 priate, shall carry out a program to— 

9 (1) develop, and provide for voluntary imple10 mentation of, maturity models, self-assessments, and 

11 auditing methods for assessing the physical security 

12 and cybersecurity of electric utilities; 

13 (2) provide training to electric utilities to ad14 dress and mitigate cybersecurity supply chain man15 agement risks; 

16 (3) increase opportunities for sharing best prac17 tices and data collection within the electric sector; 

18 (4) assist with cybersecurity training for electric 

19 utilities; 

20 (5) advance the cybersecurity of third-party 

21 vendors that work in partnerships with electric utili22 ties; and 

23 (6) provide technical assistance for electric utili24 ties subject to the program. 

25 (b) SCOPE.—In carrying out the program under sub26 section (a), the Secretary of Energy shall— 


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1 (1) take into consideration different sizes of 

2 electric utilities and the regions that such electric 

3 utilities serve; 

4 (2) prioritize electric utilities with fewer avail5 able resources due to size or region; and 

6 (3) to the extent practicable, utilize and lever7 age existing Department of Energy programs. 

8 (c) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Information 

9 provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government pur10 suant to this section— 

11 (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under sec12 tion 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and 

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

14 State, political subdivision or tribal authority pursu15 ant to any Federal, State, political subdivision, or 

16 tribal law requiring public disclosure of information 

17 or records. 

18 SEC. 3. REPORT ON CYBERSECURITY AND DISTRIBUTION 

19 SYSTEMS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, in con21 sultation with State regulatory authorities, industry stake22 holders, and other Federal agencies the Secretary deter23 mines appropriate, shall submit to Congress a report that 

24 assesses— 


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

2 for enhancing the physical security and cybersecurity 

3 of electricity distribution systems to address threats 

4 to, and vulnerabilities of, such electricity distribution 

5 systems; and 

6 (2) implementation of such priorities, policies, 

7 procedures, and actions, including an estimate of po8 tential costs and benefits of such implementation, in9 cluding any public-private cost-sharing opportunities. 

10 (b) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Information 

11 provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government pur12 suant to this section— 

13 (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under sec14 tion 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and 

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

16 State, political subdivision or tribal authority pursu17 ant to any Federal, State, political subdivision, or 

18 tribal law requiring public disclosure of information 

19 or records. 

20 SEC. 4. ELECTRICITY INTERRUPTION INFORMATION. 

21 (a) INTERRUPTION COST ESTIMATE CALCULATOR.— 

22 The Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Federal 

23 Energy Regulatory Commission, State regulatory authori24 ties, industry stakeholders, and other Federal agencies the 

25 Secretary determines appropriate, shall update the InterVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Jan 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H359.IH H359

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1 ruption Cost Estimate Calculator, as often as appropriate 

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

3 (b) INDICES.—The Secretary of Energy, in consulta4 tion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

5 State regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, and 

6 other Federal agencies the Secretary determines appro7 priate, shall, as often as appropriate and feasible, update 

8 the following: 

9 (1) The System Average Interruption Duration 

10 Index. 

11 (2) The System Average Interruption Fre12 quency Index. 

13 (3) The Customer Average Interruption Dura14 tion Index. 

15 (c) SURVEY.—The Administrator of the Energy In16 formation Administration shall collect information on elec17 tricity interruption costs, if available, from a representa18 tive sample of owners of electric grid assets through a bi19 ennial survey. 

20 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In the Act, the following definitions apply: 

22 (1) ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ORGANIZATION.— 

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

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

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


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

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

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

4 (3) STATE REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The 

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

6 given such term in section 3 of the Federal Power 

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

Æ 


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