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Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed Energy Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta’s SECURE GRID Act, bipartisan legislation that empowers states to fully assess risks to the electric grid from extreme weather, physical and cyber threats, and other vulnerabilities. This bill is co-led by Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA-07).

“States must have a fully accessible plan in place to respond when threats are posed to the electric grid. As Chairman of the Energy Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce and Co-Chair of the Grid Innovation Caucus, ensuring America’s electric grid is secure and resilient for families and businesses across the country remains a top priority. I thank my Energy and Commerce Committee colleagues for advancing this legislation at today’s markup, and I urge the House to swiftly bring it to a vote,” said Latta. 

“Keeping the lights on should never be a gamble. Across America, a power outage can mean a life-threatening scenario during extreme temperatures, a parent scrambling to keep insulin cold, or a senior worrying about a medical device. The SECURE Grid Act takes a commonsense step to strengthen the local grid that serves our communities and protect it from extreme weather, physical threats, and cyberattacks. I’m glad this bipartisan bill passed out of committee, and I’ll keep pushing to get it to the House floor,” said Matsui.  

Background on the SECURE Grid Act: 

States must submit a State Energy Security Plan (SESP) annually to receive funds from the State Energy Program. State Energy Offices use these funds to implement energy security and resiliency plans, invest in domestic energy resources, reduce energy waste, pilot innovative energy projects, and more. A state's SESP allows it to recognize, respond to, and mitigate weaknesses in its energy infrastructure. 

While SESPs are currently required to consider broad vulnerabilities, including physical and cyber-attacks, the SECURE Grid Act adds necessary detailed data to these reports, requiring states to consider: 

• threats posed to local distribution facilities and supporting grid infrastructure, like distribution substations; 
• the risks posed by increasing grid demand; 
• available technologies to mitigate threats to energy distribution and rising grid demand; 
• the distinctions between weather-related threats and threats from a physical act of violence; 
• the utility of public-private partnerships in meeting energy security needs; 
• the availability of innovative financing models that may save taxpayer dollars and increase access to digital grid technology; and 
• the role of vendors in maintaining a secure, reliable, and resilient energy distribution system.