I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4298 
To amend the Federal Power Act to protect the bulk-power system and 
electric infrastructure critical to the defense of the United States against 
cybersecurity, physical, and other threats and vulnerabilities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 26, 2014 
Mr. WAXMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Power Act to protect the bulk-power 
system and electric infrastructure critical to the defense 
of the United States against cybersecurity, physical, and 
other threats and vulnerabilities. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Grid Reliability and 
Infrastructure Defense Act’’ or the ‘‘GRID Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL POWER ACT. 
(a) CRITICAL ELECTRIC INFRASTRUCTURE SECU-
RITY.—Part II of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824 
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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 
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 
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critical electric infrastructure vulnerability’ means a 
weakness in defense critical electric infrastructure 
that, in the event of— 
‘‘(A) a malicious act using electronic com-
munication or an electromagnetic pulse, would 
pose a substantial risk of disruption of those 
electronic devices or communications networks, 
including hardware, software, and data, that 
are essential to the reliability of defense critical 
electric infrastructure; or 
‘‘(B) a direct physical attack on defense 
critical electric infrastructure, would pose a 
substantial risk of significant adverse effects on 
the reliability of defense critical electric infra-
structure. 
‘‘(4) ELECTROMAGNETIC
PULSE.—The term 
‘electromagnetic pulse’ means 1 or more pulses of 
electromagnetic energy, emitted by any device or 
weapon capable of generating such a pulse, that 
would pose a substantial risk of disruption to the op-
eration of those electronic devices or communications 
networks, including hardware, software, and data, 
that are essential to the reliability of systems nec-
essary for the generation, transmission, and dis-
tribution of electric energy. 
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‘‘(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)(i) a malicious act using electronic 
communication or an electromagnetic pulse, or 
a geomagnetic storm event, that could disrupt 
the operation of those electronic devices or com-
munications networks, including hardware, soft-
ware, and data, that are essential to the reli-
ability of the bulk-power system or of defense 
critical electric infrastructure; and 
‘‘(ii) 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; or 
‘‘(B)(i) a direct physical attack on the 
bulk-power system or on defense critical electric 
infrastructure; and 
‘‘(ii) significant adverse effects on the reli-
ability of the bulk-power system or of defense 
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critical electric infrastructure as a result of 
such physical attack. 
‘‘(7) GRID
SECURITY
VULNERABILITY.—The 
term ‘grid security vulnerability’ means a weakness 
in the bulk-power system that, in the event of— 
‘‘(A) a malicious act using electronic com-
munication or an electromagnetic pulse, would 
pose a substantial risk of disruption to the op-
eration of those electronic devices or commu-
nications networks, including hardware, soft-
ware, and data, that are essential to the reli-
ability of the bulk-power system; or 
‘‘(B) a direct physical attack on the bulk- 
power system, would pose a substantial risk of 
significant adverse effects on 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)— 
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