Review - HR 2931 Introduced – Enhancing Grid Security

Back in March Rep McNerney (D,CA) introduced HR 2931, the Enhancing Grid Security through Public-Private Partnerships Act. The bill would require the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a voluntary security program for electric utilities and provide a report to Congress on cybersecurity of electricity distribution systems. Similar bills have been introduced and passed in the House back through the 115^th Congress (See HR 5240 in the 115^th Congress)

NOTE: This bill was reviewed using a Committee Print, the GPO has not yet printed an official copy of the bill.

Moving Forward

Last Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a markup hearing that included consideration of this bill. It was approved, without amendment, by a voice vote. This indicates that this bill, like the similar bills in the last two congresses, has strong bipartisan support. The bill will be considered in the full House under the suspension of the rules process. This means that there will be limited debate, no floor amendments and the bill will require a supermajority to pass. The bill will likely pass with strong bipartisan support.

Commentary

This bill is job justification legislation. Congresscritters want to get reelected, so they demonstrate that they take action to solve problems. This bill is designed to do just that. DOE is already doing most of what is required in this bill. That is why no funding authorization is needed in the bill, funds have already been allocated for these activities.

For a more detailed look at the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-2931-introduced (subscription required)