New FERC Office to focus on cyber security

FERC OEIS leads coordinated cybersecurity and physical threat mitigation for FERC-jurisdictional energy facilities, advancing grid reliability through interagency collaboration, EMP resilience, industry outreach, NERC alignment, and rapid risk communication and response.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman FERC Jon Wellinghoff recently announced the creation of a new FERC office that will help the Commission focus on potential cyber and physical security risks to energy facilities under its jurisdiction.

The new Office of Energy Infrastructure Security OEIS will provide leadership, expertise and assistance to the Commission to identify, communicate and seek comprehensive solutions to potential risks to FERC-jurisdictional facilities from cyber attacks and, as lawmakers seek tighter cyber regulation on power grids, such physical threats as electromagnetic pulses.

"Creating this office allows FERC to leverage its existing resources with those of other government agencies and private industry in a coordinated, focused manner,” Wellinghoff said. "Effective mitigation of cyber and other physical attacks requires rapid interactions among regulators, industry and federal and state agencies, including FERC’s reliability standards and penalties framework." OEIS will focus on: • Developing recommendations for identifying, communicating and mitigating potential cyber and physical security threats and vulnerabilities to FERC-jurisdictional energy facilities using the Commission’s existing statutory authority

• Providing assistance, expertise and advice to other federal and state agencies, jurisdictional utilities, as some US utilities seek a secondary audit role for FERC, and Congress in identifying, communicating and mitigating potential cyber and physical threats and vulnerabilities to FERC-jurisdictional energy facilities

• Participating in interagency and intelligence-related coordination and collaboration efforts with appropriate federal and state agencies and industry representatives on cyber and physical security matters related to FERC-jurisdictional energy facilities including, but not limited to, participating in conferences, workshops and classified briefings and,

• Conducting outreach with private sector owners, users and operators of energy delivery systems regarding identification, communication and mitigation of cyber and physical threats to FERC-jurisdictional energy facilities.

To continue the Commission’s oversight of reliability of the nation's bulk power system, FERC will continue to work closely with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation NERC, including a joint outage inquiry collaboration, the national electric reliability organization certified by FERC, through this reorganization.

OEIS will be led by Joseph McClelland, who has been Director of the Office of Electric Reliability since its formation in 2006. The Office of Electric Reliability will be led by Ted Franks, who will serve as Acting Director.

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