S 174 Introduced – Energy Sector Security

Last month Sen. King (I-ME) introduced S 174, the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act. This bill is the same as the reported version of S 79 that was introduced in the 115^th Congress (and actually dates back to S 3018 from the 114^th). It calls for and finances a study on control system security in the electric sector.

King and Rep. Ruppersberger (D,MC), who has introduced what is probably a companion bill (HR 680 to be published) have been pushing hard for this idea for over two years now. Last session King got his version out of Committee, but could not get it to the floor of the Senate. This was almost certainly due to the cost of the bill ($11.5 million). With more news being released about the cybersecurity risks associated with the grid, we may see this bill get to the floor.