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Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) questioned witnesses about cyber threats to electric grid infrastructure at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing Wednesday morning. The Energy Subcommittee hearing, entitled “The Electricity Sector’s Efforts to Respond to Cybersecurity Threats,” featured expert testimony on potential cybersecurity threats and what industry is doing to protect sensitive electric infrastructure. The hearing also touched on implementation of provisions in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST) of 2015 specific to the Department of Energy’s ability to counter cybersecurity threats. That legislation included provisions authored by Latta to designate DOE as the lead sector specific agency for emergencies and also provide tools to facilitate the protection and voluntary sharing of critical infrastructure information to better respond to grid emergencies.
 
“The damage that a widescale attack on our electric grid could wreak on public health, national security, and the economy is alarming,” said Latta. “That’s why maintaining robust defenses of our electric infrastructure is essential to preventing cyberattacks from bad actors — whether they be terrorist groups, foreign states, or lone wolves. Today’s hearing showed that the FAST Act is helping industry and the federal government work together to address vulnerabilities and better protect our energy infrastructure, but there is still more that can be done to secure the nation’s electric grid.”

To view video of Latta’s questioning, click here.

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