60 Minutes Tackles Lack of Grid Security On February 27, 2022, 60 Minutes Journalist Bill Whitaker reported on the disturbing lack of physical security requirements for the electric grid. Watch the full report here: This report was produced by Graham Messick and Jack Weingart . People interviewed: Jon Wellinghoff, former FERC Chairman Granger Morgan, Carnegie…
Search Results for: Electric Infrastructure Security Council
How the electric utility industry torpedoed grid security
Our biggest security problem is not Russia or China – it is electric utility industry lobbyists While reading a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order from January of this year, I was amused for a moment that the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) actually had the audacity to ask FERC if they could abdicate…
Government Misses the Boat on Grid Security – Again
Once again, the government misses the boat on grid security. On July 28, 2021 President Biden issued a “National Security Memorandum on Improving Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems.” Here is the problem: It is still voluntary for electric utility companies to protect the electric grid: Accordingly, I have established an Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity…
Critical Electric Infrastructure – The Government Must Step Up
Click Here for PDF Copy Introduction I am a private citizen who, for over a decade, has conducted public interest research on the security of the electric grid because I recognize the absolutely vital role of this infrastructure in powering every one of the nation’s 16 critical infrastructures and in undergirding not just the…
FERC Denies Grid Physical Security Complaint, BUT…
In an order that appears to be largely cut and pasted from the electric industry arguments, FERC denied my electric grid physical security complaint on June 9, 2020. However, FERC Commissioner McNamee filed a separate “concurring opinion” which reads like a dissent. Apparently, the physical security complaint struck a nerve. Background of my Physical Security…
Electric Industry Lobbyist’s China Ties Questioned
Photo Source: Edison Electric Institute Click HERE for PDF Copy I am the Complainant in this docket. I file these two motions pursuant to 18 CFR § 385.212 (Rule 212). Background On May 4, 2020, the President of the United States declared a national emergency and issued Executive Order 13920: “Securing the United States Bulk-Power…
Electric Industry Wants to Defer Implementation of Cybersecurity
CLICK HERE for PDF copy Protest and Comments of Michael Mabee Submitted to FERC on April 10, 2020 I am a private citizen who conducts public interest research on the security of the electric grid. I have also previously filed comments in one of the impacted dockets. Protest of the Commission’s April 6, 2020 “Notice…
Former CIA Director James Woolsey on Grid Physical Security
Click HERE for PDF Copy Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20426 Re: Motion to Intervene in Docket No. EL20-21-000 Dear Chairman Chatterjee and members of the Commission, Alongside Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, I am an honorary co-chairman of the Secure the Grid Coalition, which was founded in 2014 by…
Loopholes in Grid Physical Security Identified
Click HERE for PDF Copy Introduction I am a private citizen who conducts public interest research on the security of the electric grid. I am also the Complainant in this docket. In addition to the information and recommendations contained in the original Complaint, filed on January 29, 2020 and docketed by the Commission on February…
Is the Tail Wagging The Dog in Grid Security?
NERC’s Performance Assessment Report: The Tail Wagging The Dog? In an order issued on January 23, 2020 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) largely accepted the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) Five-Year Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) Performance Assessment Report. FERC’s order in Docket RR19-7-000 finds that “NERC continues to satisfy the statutory and regulatory…