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By Holden Mann FERC on Thursday issued a Notice of Inquiry seeking industry comments on the "potential benefits and risks" to the bulk electric system posed by virtualization and cloud computing services (RM20-8). Separately, the commission ordered NERC to provide information on two existing draft critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability...

WASHINGTON — Cybersecurity and resilience were the subject of numerous discussions at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Policy Summit this week, with NERC CEO Jim Robb previewing an upcoming report on GridEx V and a FERC official urging regulators to get security clearances. Cybersecurity and reliability were...

By Michael Brooks WASHINGTON — A panel at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Policy Summit on Monday on the cybersecurity of natural gas infrastructure waded into the world of insurance. Brian Finch, a partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, provided NARUC’s committees on Telecommunications, Critical Infrastructure and...

By Christen Smith and Rich Heidorn Jr. VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — Consumer advocates, industrial customers and state regulators asked FERC last week to reject the PJM Transmission Owner sector’s critical infrastructure mitigation plan as filed, saying it lacks transparency and improperly restricts input by stakeholders and the RTO. But PJM...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. FERC has adopted the North American Energy Standards Board’s (NAESB) Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities as mandatory requirements, saying they are "necessary to increase the efficiency of the wholesale electric power grid." The commission approved the rulemaking at its Jan. 23...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. NERC has opened a 45-day formal comment period on proposed reliability standards addressing cybersecurity supply chain risks. Project 2019-03 was initiated in response to FERC Order 850, which directed NERC to submit modifications to address electronic access control or monitoring systems (EACMS) that provide electronic access...

FERC on Tuesday announced it will hold its annual technical conference on reliability from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on June 25. The commissioner-led session will focus on cybersecurity, the changing resource mix and inverter-based resources and inverter-connected distributed energy resources (AD20-7). Those wishing to be participate in the panel...

By Holden Mann and Rich Heidorn Jr. FERC on Wednesday accepted NERC Notices of Penalty against the Bonneville Power Administration, Idaho Power and the Niles Light Department. There were no monetary penalties. The commission said it would not review NP20-5 regarding BPA or NP20-6, a spreadsheet NOP. The spreadsheet included...

By Holden Mann FERC on Thursday approved NERC reliability standards affecting transmission system planning performance and communications cybersecurity, while also proposing to streamline the ERO’s list of requirements. Protection System Preparedness The first standard approved at FERC’s open meeting was TPL-001-5, which NERC proposed last year because of concerns that...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. FERC on Thursday approved NERC as the Electric Reliability Organization for another five years while ordering the organization to audit its regional entities and improve its oversight of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC). It also ordered changes to NERC’s organization certification program and...