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1 1 (February 7, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govekmi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: S Congressional ____ ~ Research Service Electric Grid Physical Security: Recent Developments Updated February 7, 2023 On February 6, 2023, the Justice Department announced the arrest of two individuals for planning to attack five electric power transmission substations around Baltimore, MD, allegedly as part of a racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist conspiracy. On December 25, 2022, four electric distribution substations in the Tacoma, WA, area were physically attacked, allegedly by two malicious individuals in a burglary scheme, causing millions of dollars in damage and cutting power to some 30,000 utility customers. Three weeks earlier, unknown perpetrators attacked two substations in Moore County, NC, causing an extended blackout for 45,000 area customers. According to press analysis of Department of Energy (DOE) incident reports, such attacks are becoming more frequent. The Baltimore, Tacoma, and Moore County incidents are just the latest examples of physical threats against U.S. electric power infrastructure that have drawn attention among policymakers and prompted calls for more extensive grid security standards. Federal Regulation of Grid Security The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58) mandated the implementation of electric transmission reliability standards under new authority granted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the independent federal regulator of the interstate electric transmission system. The commission subsequently designated the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the Electric Reliability Organization certified to establish and enforce reliability standards-including security standards-for the U.S. electric transmission grid, subject to commission review. In 2008, FERC's Order 706 approved NERC's initial security standards for critical electric infrastructure; however, these standards primarily addressed cybersecurity, not physical security. A 2013 rifle attack by unknown perpetrators on a high-voltage electric power substation in Metcalf, CA, revealed the need for physical security standards in addition to cybersecurity standards for electric power. In response to the Metcalf attack, as well as other grid incidents and findings from utility security exercises, Congress enacted provisions in the FAST Act (P.L. 114-94) to protect or restore the reliability of critical electric infrastructure during a grid security emergency. Congress also sought stronger physical security standards from FERC under the commission's existing statutory authority. Accordingly, on Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12074 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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