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Electric Industry Supports Federal Cyber Authority, Calls for Increased
Cooperation Between Agencies, Industry
WASHINGTON (July 21, 2009) – The federal government should have explicit statutory
authority in certain emergency situations to protect the nation’s electric grid and its computer
systems, a representative of the electric utility industry on Tuesday told a subcommittee of the
House Committee on Homeland Security.
But any new federal authority over grid cybersecurity should complement existing federal
electric reliability standards, said Steven T. Naumann, Exelon Corporation’s Vice President of
Wholesale Market Development, speaking on behalf of the Edison Electric Institute and the
Electric Power Supply Association at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Emerging
Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology.
Naumann emphasized the importance of the “collaborative framework” between utilities,
industries and the federal agencies that protect the nation’s infrastructure and called for
“greater cooperation, coordination and intelligence sharing between government and the
private sector” in order to maximize security against cyber attacks.
As the electric grid becomes more digitally automated, the electric industry, Naumann said, is
fully dedicated to working with the federal government to protect the grid and “believes it is
appropriate for Congress to consider legislation providing new emergency authority to address
imminent cyber security threats.”
Any new authority should complement the industry-wide mandatory and enforceable reliability
and cyber security rules that already exist under Section 215 of the Federal Power Act, he
said, and should be “limited to true emergency situations involving imminent cybersecurity
threats where there is a significant declared national security or public welfare concern.”
Naumann cautio