I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2417 
To amend the Federal Power Act to protect the bulk-power system and 
electric infrastructure critical to the defense and well-being of the United 
States against natural and manmade electromagnetic pulse (‘‘EMP’’) 
threats and vulnerabilities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 18, 2013 
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona (for himself, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. POSEY, Mr. LAM-
BORN, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. PITTS, Mr. 
PITTENGER, Mr. LAMALFA, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. STEWART, 
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. PERRY, Mr. GOSAR, 
Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. FORTENBERRY, and 
Mr. KLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Power Act to protect the bulk-power 
system and electric infrastructure critical to the defense 
and well-being of the United States against natural and 
manmade electromagnetic pulse (‘‘EMP’’) threats and 
vulnerabilities. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure High-voltage 
Infrastructure for Electricity from Lethal Damage Act’’ 
or the ‘‘SHIELD Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) According to the Report of the Commission 
to Assess the Threat to the United States from 
Electromagnetic Pulse Attack (in this Act referred 
to as the ‘‘EMP Commission Report’’), the society 
and economy of the United States are ‘‘critically de-
pendent upon the availability of electricity.’’. 
(2) According to the EMP Commission Report, 
‘‘continued electrical supply is necessary for sus-
taining water supplies, production and distribution 
of food, fuel, communications, and everything else 
that is part of our economy’’. 
(3) According to the EMP Commission Report, 
‘‘contemporary U.S. society is not structured, nor 
does it have the means, to provide for the needs of 
nearly 300 million Americans without electricity.’’. 
(4) According to the EMP Commission Report, 
due to the existing electrical system operating at or 
near its physical capacity, ‘‘a relatively modest upset 
to the system can cause functional collapse.’’. 
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(5) According to the EMP Commission Report, 
electromagnetic pulse (in this Act referred to as 
‘‘EMP’’) is a threat to the overall electrical power 
system. 
(6) According to the EMP Commission Report, 
EMP occurs both naturally, such as geomagnetic 
storms, and via manmade devices. 
(7) According to the EMP Commission Report, 
while the electric infrastructure ‘‘has a degree of du-
rability against . . . the failure of one or a small 
number of [electric] components,’’ the current strat-
egy for recovery leaves the United States ill-prepared 
to respond effectively to an EMP attack that would 
potentially result in damage to vast numbers of com-
ponents nearly simultaneously over an unprece-
dented geographic scale. 
(8) According to the EMP Commission Report, 
EMP ‘‘may couple ultimately unmanageable currents 
and voltages into an electrical system routinely oper-
ated with little margin and cause the collapse of 
large portions of the electrical system.’’. 
(9) According to the EMP Commission Report, 
a collapse of large portions of the electrical system 
will result in significant periods of power-outage and 
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‘‘restoration from collapse or loss of significant por-
tions of the system [will be] exceedingly difficult.’’. 
(10) According to the EMP Commission Re-
port, ‘‘should the electrical power system be lost for 
any substantial period of time . . . the consequences 
are likely to be catastrophic to civilian society.’’. 
(11) According to the EMP Commission Re-
port, ‘‘the Commission is deeply concerned that 
[negative] impacts [on the electric infrastructure] 
are certain in an EMP event unless practical steps 
are taken to provide protection for critical elements 
of the electric system.’’. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL POWER ACT. 
(a) CRITICAL ELECTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE SECU-
RITY.—Part II of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824 
et seq.) is amended by adding after section 215 the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 215A. CRITICAL ELECTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE SECU-
RITY. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) BULK-POWER
SYSTEM; ELECTRIC
RELI-
ABILITY
ORGANIZATION; REGIONAL
ENTITY.—The 
terms ‘bulk-power system’, ‘Electric Reliability Or-
ganization’, and ‘regional entity’ have the meanings 
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given such terms in paragraphs (1), (2), and (7) of 
section 215(a), respectively. 
‘‘(2) DEFENSE
CRITICAL
ELECTRIC
INFRA-
STRUCTURE.—The term ‘defense critical electric in-
frastructure’ means any infrastructure located in the 
United States (including the territories) used for the 
generation, transmission, or distribution of electric 
energy that— 
‘‘(A) is not part of the bulk-power system; 
and 
‘‘(B) serves a facility designated by the 
President pursuant to subsection (d)(1), but is 
not owned or operated by the owner or operator 
of such facility. 
‘‘(3) DEFENSE
CRITICAL
ELECTRIC
INFRA-
STRUCTURE
VULNERABILITY.—The term ‘defense 
critical electric infrastructure vulnerability’ means a 
weakness in defense critical electric infrastructure 
that, in the event of a malicious act using an electro-
magnetic pulse, would pose a substantial risk of dis-
ruption of those electrical or electronic devices or 
communications networks, including hardware, soft-
ware, and data, that are essential to the reliability 
of defense critical electric infrastructure. 
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‘‘(4) ELECTROMAGNETIC
PULSE.—The term 
‘electromagnetic pulse’ means 1 or more pulses of 
electromagnetic energy generated or emitted by a de-
vice capable of disabling, disrupting, or destroying 
electronic equipment by means of such a pulse. 
‘‘(5) GEOMAGNETIC
STORM.—The term ‘geo-
magnetic storm’ means a temporary disturbance of 
the Earth’s magnetic field resulting from solar activ-
ity. 
‘‘(6) GRID SECURITY THREAT.—The term ‘grid 
security threat’ means a substantial likelihood of— 
‘‘(A) a malicious act using an electro-
magnetic pulse, or a geomagnetic storm event, 
that could disrupt the operation of those elec-
trical or electronic devices or communications 
networks, including hardware, software, and 
data, that are essential to the reliability of the 
bulk-power system or of defense critical electric 
infrastructure; and 
‘‘(B) disruption of the operation of such 
devices or networks, with significant adverse ef-
fects on the reliability of the bulk-power system 
or of defense critical electric infrastructure, as 
a result of such act or event. 
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‘‘(7) GRID
SECURITY
VULNERABILITY.—The 
term ‘grid security vulnerability’ means a weakness 
that, in the event of a malicious act using an electro-
magnetic pulse, would pose a substantial risk of dis-
ruption to the operation of those electrical or elec-
tronic devices or communications networks, includ-
ing hardware, software, and data, that are essential 
to the reliability of the bulk-power system. 
‘‘(8) LARGE TRANSFORMER.—The term ‘large 
transformer’ means an electric transformer that is 
part of the bulk-power system. 
‘‘(9) PROTECTED
INFORMATION.—The term 
‘protected information’ means information, other 
than classified national security information, des-
ignated as protected information by the Commission 
under subsection (e)(2)— 
‘‘(A) that was developed or submitted in 
connection with the implementation of this sec-
tion; 
‘‘(B) that specifically discusses grid secu-
rity threats, grid security vulnerabilities, de-
fense critical electric infrastructure vulner-
abilities, or plans, procedures, or measures to 
address such threats or vulnerabilities; and 
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