CIP

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By Rich Heidorn Jr. An electric industry-funded report on high-altitude electromagnetic pulses (HEMPs) underestimated the risks the grid faces and should not be used as the basis for mitigation, according to a critique released this week by a little-known group with ties to Maxwell Air Force Base. In April, the...

By Christen Smith VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — PJM stakeholders last week expressed concern that transmission owners’ proposed procedure for eliminating vulnerabilities to "critical" transmission assets could undermine FERC-ordered transparency rules. Critical infrastructure protection standard CIP-014-2 requires physical security plans for "highly critical" transmission assets — those "that, if rendered inoperable...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. FERC and NERC on Tuesday asked for comment on a proposal to change how they disclose information on violations of critical infrastructure protection (CIP) rules. FERC and NERC staffs published a white paper outlining proposed changes to their current procedures, which they said "may not be...

QUEBEC CITY, Quebec — NERC’s Board of Trustees and Member Representatives Committee held their third-quarter meetings last week, with discussions on wireless spectrum, cybersecurity and the Electromagnetic Pulses Task Force. Here’s some of the highlights. NERC’s Board of Trustees and Member Representatives Committee held their third-quarter meetings in Quebec last...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. QUEBEC CITY, Quebec — NERC’s Board of Trustees on Thursday approved the Electric Reliability Organization’s 2020 budgets and a data request on supply chain issues before saying goodbye to retiring General Counsel Charles "Charlie" Berardesco. Officials also announced two executive appointments and the successor to Chair...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. SERC Reliability used part of its quarterly open forum last week to provide lessons learned from a series of attacks on Arkansas’ power grid in 2013. Jason Woodring after his arrest Bill Peterson, SERC’s manager of outreach and training, told the story of Jason Woodring, who...

NERC’s Standards Committee approved the posting of proposed changes to its geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs) standard and authorized new initiatives on cyber system information access management and operator certifications during a brief meeting Wednesday. Revised GMD Standard Set for Posting The committee authorized the initial posting of proposed reliability standard TPL-007-4...

By Amanda Durish Cook INDIANAPOLIS — State regulators should establish standards to ensure the cybersecurity of distributed energy resources, experts said at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ 2019 Summer Policy Summit last week. More DERs means more consumers joining the grid — and "more credit card numbers, more...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners this week completed the release of a suite of tools it says will allow state regulators to gauge their utilities’ cybersecurity preparedness — without becoming technical experts. NARUC said the two newest offerings, a template of questions and an...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. WASHINGTON — Registered entities asked FERC on Thursday to clear the way for their use of cloud computing, which they said could improve system visibility, security and availability while saving money. Speaking at FERC’s annual reliability technical conference, representatives of the American Public Power Association, MISO,...