NERC, Cybersecurity, Energy Sector

FERC Moves To Bolster Cybersecurity

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 7/3/2025

On June 26, FERC approved a new reliability standard (CIP-015-1) proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation ("NERC") to enhance cybersecurity of the nation's bulk electric system ("BES"). In a related...more

Chambers Global Practice Guides: Alternative Energy and Power 2023

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 8/22/2023

Inflation Reduction Act - Perhaps the most significant recent develop- ment in the area of alternative energy, the Infla- tion Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) offers approxi- mately USD270 billion in tax incentives to help...more

FERC Issues Final Rule Establishing Incentive Rate Treatment for Eligible Cybersecurity Investments

Troutman Pepper Locke on 5/10/2023

Introduction - On April 21, pursuant to FPA Section 219A(c), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) established rules, providing incentive-based rate treatment for utilities making certain voluntary...more

FERC Approves Rate Incentives for Cybersecurity Investments

Morgan Lewis - Power & Pipes on 5/4/2023

FERC has issued its final rule paving the way for incentive-based rate treatment for electric utilities that make certain voluntary cybersecurity investments. As we first noted in 2020 when describing the proposed rule, the...more

FERC Approves Extending Risk Management Practices to Low-Impact Cyber Systems

Troutman Pepper Locke on 4/11/2023

On March 16, 2023, FERC approved a new cybersecurity reliability standard, CIP-003-9 (along with associated violation risk factors and violation security levels), proposed by the North American Electric Reliability...more

FERC Directs NERC to Develop Internal Network Security Monitoring for High and Medium Impact Bulk Electric System Cyber Systems

Troutman Pepper Locke on 1/31/2023

On January 19, 2023, the Commission issued a final rule that directs the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) to develop and submit reliability standards for monitoring high and medium impact bulk electric...more

FERC Directs NERC to Tighten Bulk Electric System Cybersecurity

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 1/26/2023

On January 19, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the “Commission”) issued a Final Rule directing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to file for FERC review new or modified...more

Carrot or Stick? FERC Grapples With How to Incentivize Electric Utility Cybersecurity Investments

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 9/30/2022

The U.S. electric grid is a prime target for cyberattacks, including by both nation-state actors and organized crime. Electric utilities have been ahead of much of the rest of the energy sector in hardening their...more

FERC Again Proposes Incentives for Voluntary Cybersecurity Investments

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 9/27/2022

On September 22, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the “Commission”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing revisions to its regulations to establish rate incentives for public utilities...more

FERC Proposes to Close Gap in Bulk Electric System Cybersecurity

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 2/3/2022

On January 20, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed to direct the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to develop for FERC review and approval new or modified Reliability Standards...more

Cybersecurity 2022 – The Year in Preview: Continued Threats to Nation’s Energy Supply as Regulators Race to Keep Up

Foley Hoag LLP - Security, Privacy and the... on 2/2/2022

Continued Threats of Ransomware Attacks - As we reported in our 2021 Year in Preview series, we began 2021 anticipating that ransomware would be a serious threat to critical energy infrastructure. These concerns were...more

FERC Directs NERC to Expand Protections to Internal Networks

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 1/27/2022

On January 20, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) directing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to develop new or modified standards that...more

FERC Staff Provides “Lessons Learned” from Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standard Audits

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 11/5/2021

In October 2021, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) staff issued its annual report on “recommendations to help users, owners and operators of the bulk-power system improve their compliance with the [North American...more

FERC and NERC Publish Whitepaper on SolarWinds and Related Supply Chain Compromise

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 7/8/2021

On July 6, 2021, the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) issued a whitepaper...more

Ransomware, Cyberattacks, and Cybersecurity for Pipelines and LNG Facilities

Perkins Coie on 5/18/2021

Colonial Pipeline shut down 5,500 miles of its East Coast pipeline on May 7, 2021, in an effort to contain a security breach resulting from a ransomware attack. Colonial’s pipeline is one of the nation’s largest and carries...more

FERC Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Cybersecurity Investment Incentives

Troutman Pepper Locke on 12/28/2020

On December 17, 2020, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to revise its regulations to establish incentives for public utilities to make certain cybersecurity investments that go beyond the current...more

Cybersecurity 2021 – The Year in Preview: Ransomware, the Latest Threat to the Nation’s Energy Supply

Foley Hoag LLP - Security, Privacy and the... on 12/17/2020

Editors’ Note: This is the first in our fifth-annual end-of-year series examining important trends in data privacy and cybersecurity in the coming year. The Growing Threat of Ransomware - According to media reports,...more

FERC Authorizes Deferred Implementation of Seven NERC Reliability Standards

Foley Hoag LLP - Energy & Climate Counsel on 4/26/2020

The (“FERC” or “Commission”) recently issued an Order approving a request by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) to defer the implementation of several Reliability Standards scheduled to take effect...more

FERC Announces New Initiatives to Bolster Cybersecurity Focus

Morgan Lewis on 11/26/2019

At its open meeting on November 21, FERC announced organizational changes to enhance the agency’s focus on cybersecurity threats and challenges to electric infrastructure. Commission staff unveiled five “focus areas” related...more

How the “Name-and-Shame Game” Highlights the Need of Electric Utilities for Appropriate Cyber Insurance

Pillsbury - Policyholder Pulse blog on 11/8/2019

In late August, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued a joint white paper proposing a “name-and-shame” approach to electric utilities that failing to...more

Cybersecurity in Project Finance and M&A

McGuireWoods LLP on 10/30/2019

Recent headlines have detailed foreign-state actors targeting utilities and independent power producers in the United States to gain access to critical infrastructure at the nation’s utilities and military installations....more

FERC Staff Proposes Risky Plan to Identify Utilities with Cybersecurity Violations

Morgan Lewis on 9/4/2019

Facing what it deems an “unprecedented number of FOIA requests” for nonpublic information related to utility violations of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) critical infrastructure protection (CIP)...more

Infrastructure Update: New NERC Directive Emphasizes Cyber Planning and Reporting for Electrical Energy Sector

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP on 8/26/2019

The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) recently adopted the Cyber Security – Incident Reporting and Response Planning CIP-008-6 directive (Directive), which creates new cybersecurity incident reporting...more

FERC Approves Expanded Cyber Incident Reporting Requirements for Electric Utilities

Morgan Lewis on 7/3/2019

FERC recently approved proposed Reliability Standard CIP-008-6, which expands the mandatory reporting requirements for Cyber Security Incidents that attempt to compromise the operation of the bulk power system. Under the new...more

FERC and NERC Advance Dramatically Expanded Mandatory Cybersecurity Reporting Standards - Medium and High BES Systems Could Face...

Holland & Knight LLP on 6/26/2019

• New Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rule mandates new wide-ranging cybersecurity reporting standards in CIP 008-6. • Mandatory reporting is now required for "cyber security incidents that either compromise, or...more

North American Electric Reliability Corporation › Cybersecurity › Energy Sector

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