5.5 ERMUSR 03-17-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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11DMDML 11117110,11 Position Statement Grid Security Public power utilities, along with the rest of the electric industry, take seriously their responsibility to maintain the very __ high degree of electric grid security that r is absolutely essential to the welfare and security of the nation. That is why the industry worked together to reach consensus on a mandatory reliability plan in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct05). ^ The electric utility industry is the only critical infrastructure sector, along with nuclear power plants, that adheres to federal - - mandatory and enforceable reliability and t cyber security standards;this is known as the FERC-NERC process (Federal Energy - I Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corporation),which - oversees the standards as prescribed in the The electric utility industry adheres to federal reliability and cyber security EPAct 05. standards.We take threats to the electric system very seriously. We take threats to the electric system very seriously.We know that we need to MMUA Position be on constant guard against cyber-attacks.We also We recognize that grid security legislation is coming. understand how critical it is to protect our physical We support enhanced information sharing between the assets—our power plants, transmission lines, and federal government and electricity industry. We also substations. support narrowly crafted and targeted legislation to address grid security emergencies. We don't support Electric utilities are working diligently with regulators legislation that would place an unnecessary burden to develop the necessary standards and make sure that on Minnesota's relatively small public power systems, they are upgraded to ensure that our defenses are up to duplicates existing systems, and would deliver little in date. Critical Infrastructure Protection(CIP)Version the way of additional results. 3 cybersecurity standards are currently in effect and enforceable.Version 5 has been approved by FERC and will be enforceable on April 1, 2016. FERC has also approved a new physical security standard to protect our most critical substations which becomes enforceable beginning on October 1, 2015. l - 4 The public power community supports NERC's Critical Infrastructure Protection standards, as well as efforts "f.:4107‘ g, by the Electricity Sub-sector Coordinating Council to " . improve cyber standards throughout the industry. We '1'1,4+ 4,° also encourage our local utilities to adopt the cyber g P Y l Ml � security framework outlined in the White Houses 1 * Executive Order in 2013, and support FERC's new "-` < physical standards that go into effect later this year. However, we do not support legislation that would place an unnecesary burden on small public power systems and deliver little In the way of additional results. 2015 Federal Position Statements/8