II 

Calendar No. 267 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2095 

[Report No. 116–147] 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Mr. GARDNER (for himself and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

OCTOBER 24, 2019 

Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, without amendment 

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, 


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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. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ORGANIZATION.— 

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

8 meaning given the term in section 215(a) of the 

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

10 (2) ELECTRIC UTILITY; STATE REGULATORY

11 AUTHORITY.—The terms ‘‘electric utility’’ and 

12 ‘‘State regulatory authority’’ have the meanings 

13 given those terms in section 3 of the Federal Power 

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

15 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of Energy. 

17 SEC. 3. PROGRAM TO PROMOTE AND ADVANCE PHYSICAL 

18 SECURITY AND CYBERSECURITY OF ELEC19 TRIC UTILITIES. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in consulta21 tion with State regulatory authorities, industry stake22 holders, the Electric Reliability Organization, and any 

23 other Federal agencies that the Secretary determines to 

24 be appropriate, shall carry out a program— 

25 (1) to develop, and provide for voluntary imple26 mentation of, maturity models, self-assessments, and 


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1 auditing methods for assessing the physical security 

2 and cybersecurity of electric utilities; 

3 (2) to assist with threat assessment and cyber4 security training for electric utilities; 

5 (3) to provide technical assistance for electric 

6 utilities subject to the program; 

7 (4) to provide training to electric utilities to ad8 dress and mitigate cybersecurity supply chain man9 agement risks; 

10 (5) to advance the cybersecurity of third-party 

11 vendors in partnerships with electric utilities; and 

12 (6) to increase opportunities for sharing best 

13 practices and data collection within the electric sec14 tor. 

15 (b) SCOPE.—In carrying out the program under sub16 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

17 (1) take into consideration— 

18 (A) the different sizes of electric utilities; 

19 and 

20 (B) the regions that electric utilities serve; 

21 (2) prioritize electric utilities with fewer avail22 able resources due to size or region; and 

23 (3) to the maximum extent practicable, use and 

24 leverage— 


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1 (A) existing Department of Energy pro2 grams; and 

3 (B) existing programs of the Federal agen4 cies determined to be appropriate under sub5 section (a). 

6 (c) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Information 

7 provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government pur8 suant to this section— 

9 (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under sec10 tion 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and 

11 (2) shall not be made available by any Federal 

12 agency, State, political subdivision of a State, or 

13 Tribal authority pursuant to any Federal, State, po14 litical subdivision of a State, or Tribal law, respec15 tively, requiring public disclosure of information or 

16 records. 

17 SEC. 4. REPORT ON CYBERSECURITY AND DISTRIBUTION 

18 SYSTEMS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta21 tion with State regulatory authorities, industry stake22 holders, and any other Federal agencies that the Secretary 

23 determines to be appropriate, shall submit to Congress a 

24 report that 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, including behind4 the-meter generation, storage, and load management 

5 devices, to address threats to, and vulnerabilities of, 

6 electricity distribution systems; and 

7 (2) the implementation of the priorities, poli8 cies, procedures, and actions assessed under para9 graph (1), including— 

10 (A) an estimate of potential costs and ben11 efits of the implementation; and 

12 (B) an assessment of any public-private 

13 cost-sharing opportunities. 

14 (b) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Information 

15 provided to, or collected by, the Federal Government 

16 under 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 agency, State, political subdivision of a State, or 

21 Tribal authority pursuant to any Federal, State, po22 litical subdivision of a State, or Tribal law, respec23 tively, requiring public disclosure of information or 

24 records. 


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Calendar No. 267 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2095 

[Report No. 116–147] 

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 24, 2019 

Reported without amendment 


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