The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) recently approved the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (“NERC”) request to expand registration and compliance requirements to inverter-based resources...more
On May 23, 2024, FERC approved the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (“NERC”) proposed Critical Infrastructure Protection (“CIP”) Reliability Standard, CIP-012-2 (Cyber Security – Communications between...more
On October 19, 2023, FERC issued a final rule directing the North American Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) to develop or modify reliability standards to address reliability concerns attributable to inverter-based resources...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the “Commission”) recently issued Order Nos. 896 and 897 (collectively, the “Reliability Orders”), which are two final rules designed to bolster electric grid reliability...more
On February 16, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued an order approving two extreme cold weather reliability standards: EOP-011-3 (Emergency Operations) and EOP-012-1 (Extreme Cold Weather...more
In late January, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) published a final rule directing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to develop and submit modified reliability standards for internal...more
Continuing a recent trend in which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") has been directing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation ("NERC") to improve or maintain the reliability of the nation's...more
There are no unimportant North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability standards, but from time to time, NERC and the Regional Entities (Regions) place greater emphasis on certain reliability standards in...more
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
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
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
Last week, the Biden Administration through the Department of Energy, took actions regarding Executive Order 13920 (the “Bulk Power Order”). Such actions effectively established a clean slate for how the Biden...more
On April 20, 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the “Department”) issued an order revoking its Prohibition Order Securing Critical Defense Facilities, issued December 17, 2020. DOE’s actions come exactly 90 days...more
Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) has issued a report analyzing the effects of renewable energy growth in the MISO region and concluding that the system can reliably accommodate a significant percentage of...more
On January 15, 2021, the Department of Energy (DOE) stated[1] that it intended to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking later this year as directed under the May 2020 Executive Order on Securing the United States Bulk-Power...more
On Dec. 17, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a prohibition order, in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order 13920 of May 3, 2020 (EO). The prohibition order bars electric utilities from acquiring,...more
According to media reports, ransomware attacks against the manufacturing industry have more than tripled compared with last year. This dramatic rise in cyberattacks poses serious concerns about the vulnerability of critical...more
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
On September 17, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the “Commission”) issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking comments on “potential risks to the bulk electric system posed by using equipment and...more
On 8 July 2020, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a Request for Information (RFI) regarding the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 13920 of 1 May 2020, on Securing the United States Bulk-Power System. See our prior...more
Reflecting increasing U.S. government concern regarding Chinese access to U.S. critical technologies and critical infrastructure, POWER magazine recently reported on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) publication of a Request...more
On July 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) released a Request for Information (“RFI”), requesting public comments by August 7 on Executive Order 13920 that President Trump issued on May 1, 2020, entitled:...more
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has taken the first major step towards implementing the recent Executive Order (EO) from the Trump Administration that seeks to protect the national bulk-power system (BPS) from foreign...more
On May 1, 2020, President Trump issued Executive Order 13920 on “Securing the U.S. Bulk-Power System” (EO), the most public and potentially far-reaching action to address the long-standing U.S. governmental concern about...more
The Department of Energy (DOE) has solicited the electric industry to request information to assist the DOE in drafting forthcoming rules that will prohibit the U.S. bulk-power electric system from using equipment sourced...more