I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2931 

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 

APRIL 30, 2021 

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 coordination with relevant Federal agencies and in con6 sultation with State regulatory authorities, industry stake7 holders, and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the 

8 Secretary determines appropriate, shall carry out a pro9 gram to— 

10 (1) develop, and provide for voluntary imple11 mentation of, maturity models, self-assessments, and 

12 auditing methods for assessing the physical security 

13 and cybersecurity of electric utilities; 

14 (2) provide training to electric utilities to ad15 dress and mitigate cybersecurity supply chain man16 agement risks; 

17 (3) increase opportunities for sharing best prac18 tices and data collection within the electric sector; 

19 (4) assist with cybersecurity training for electric 

20 utilities; 

21 (5) advance the cybersecurity of third-party 

22 vendors that work in partnerships with electric utili23 ties; and 

24 (6) provide technical assistance for electric utili25 ties subject to the program. 


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1 (b) SCOPE.—In carrying out the program under sub2 section (a), the Secretary of Energy shall— 

3 (1) take into consideration different sizes of 

4 electric utilities and the regions that such electric 

5 utilities serve; 

6 (2) prioritize electric utilities with fewer avail7 able resources due to size or region; and 

8 (3) to the extent practicable, utilize and lever9 age existing Department of Energy programs. 

10 (c) 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. 3. REPORT ON CYBERSECURITY AND DISTRIBUTION 

21 SYSTEMS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, in co23 ordination with relevant Federal agencies and in consulta24 tion with State regulatory authorities, industry stake25 holders, and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the 


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1 Secretary determines appropriate, shall submit to Con2 gress a report that assesses— 

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

4 for enhancing the physical security and cybersecurity 

5 of electricity distribution systems to address threats 

6 to, and vulnerabilities of, such electricity distribution 

7 systems; and 

8 (2) implementation of such priorities, policies, 

9 procedures, and actions, including an estimate of po10 tential costs and benefits of such implementation, in11 cluding any public-private cost-sharing opportunities. 

12 (b) 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. 4. ELECTRICITY INTERRUPTION INFORMATION. 

23 (a) INTERRUPTION COST ESTIMATE CALCULATOR.— 

24 The Secretary of Energy, in coordination with relevant 

25 Federal agencies and in consultation with State regulatory 


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1 authorities, industry stakeholders, and the Electric Reli2 ability Organization, as the Secretary determines appro3 priate, shall update the Interruption Cost Estimate Calcu4 lator, as often as appropriate and feasible, but not less 

5 than once every 2 years. 

6 (b) INDICES.—The Secretary of Energy, in coordina7 tion with relevant Federal agencies and in consultation 

8 with State regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, 

9 and the Electric Reliability Organization, as the Secretary 

10 determines appropriate, shall, as often as appropriate and 

11 feasible, update the following: 

12 (1) The System Average Interruption Duration 

13 Index. 

14 (2) The System Average Interruption Fre15 quency Index. 

16 (3) The Customer Average Interruption Dura17 tion Index. 

18 (c) SURVEY.—The Administrator of the Energy In19 formation Administration shall collect information on elec20 tricity interruption costs, if available, from a representa21 tive sample of owners of electric grid assets through a bi22 ennial survey. 

23 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In the Act, the following definitions apply: 


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1 (1) ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ORGANIZATION.— 

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

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

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

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

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

7 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

8 (3) STATE REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The 

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

10 given such term in section 3 of the Federal Power 

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

Æ 


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