WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation Friday that would authorize $250 million over five years to extend a federal cybersecurity program for rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities through 2031, targeting security gaps among smaller operators of the nation’s power grid.
The Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act, sponsored by Sens. Dave McCormick, R-PA, John Hickenlooper, D-CO, John Hoeven, R-ND, John Curtis, R-UT, and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-NV, would reauthorize the Department of Energy’s Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program.
The program provides grants and technical assistance to rural electric cooperatives and publicly owned utilities to prevent, detect, respond to and recover from cyberattacks. The legislation would also support cybersecurity planning, workforce development and vulnerability assessments.
Smaller utilities can face resource constraints that limit their ability to defend against increasingly sophisticated attacks on energy infrastructure, according to information accompanying the legislation.
“America’s electric grid is a critical piece of our national security, and every utility—regardless of size or location—must have the resources to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats,” McCormick said.
The Pennsylvania Republican argued that rural cooperatives and municipal utilities serving communities in his state and elsewhere frequently operate with fewer cybersecurity resources than larger utilities.
The Senate measure is a companion to bipartisan legislation that unanimously passed the House earlier this year.
The existing program was established under the bipartisan infrastructure law. Cortez Masto, who helped create it, argued that continued federal support is needed as cybersecurity threats evolve.
“This program has proven incredibly successful and there is bipartisan support to reauthorize it,” Cortez Masto said.
The legislation has support from organizations representing public power providers and electric cooperatives, including the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association and Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Pennsylvania Municipal Electric Association, American Public Power Association and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
Steve Brame, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association and Allegheny Electric Cooperative, pointed to the disparity in defensive resources available to different types of utilities.
“Cyber threats don’t distinguish between a large investor-owned utility and an electric cooperative serving rural communities, but the resources to defend against them are far from equal,” Brame said.
Jeffrey Stonehill, president of the Pennsylvania Municipal Electric Association, similarly argued that smaller, locally owned power systems need access to federal technical assistance and funding to manage cyber threats.
The American Public Power Association has used support from the federal program to launch a Cyber Accelerator Program designed to assess utilities’ cybersecurity readiness and identify improvements, according to the organization.
The proposed reauthorization would continue the federal government’s partnership with locally owned utilities through 2031 while authorizing $250 million for cybersecurity assistance over five years.
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