Review – S 1400 Introduced – PROTECT Act of 2021

Back in March, Sen Murkowski (R,AK) introduced S 1400, the Protecting Resources on The Electric grid with Cybersecurity Technology (PROTECT) Act of 2021. The bill would provide energy cybersecurity investment incentives and establish a grant and technical assistance program for cybersecurity investments. The language is virtually identical to S 2556 that was introduced in the 116^th Congress and reported in the Senate.

Section 2 of the bill would amend the Federal Power Act by adding a new §219A, Incentives for Cybersecurity Investments. The bill would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to “conduct a study to identify incentive-based, including performance-based, rate treatments for the transmission of electric energy subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission that could be used to encourage” investment by public utilities in advanced cybersecurity technology.

One year after the study was completed the bill would require FERC to establish a rule providing for “incentive-based, including performance-based, rate treatments for the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce by public utilities for the purpose of benefitting consumers by encouraging” the same investments and participation described above.

Finally, the bill would require DOE to establish the Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program to “to provide grants and technical assistance to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, eligible entities to protect against, detect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity threats.” The bill would authorize $50 million dollars per year thru 2026 for the grant program.

Murkowski and three of her cosponsors {Sen Manchin (D,WV), Risch (R,ID), and King (I,ME)} are all members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. Between them (especially considering that Manchin is the Committee Chair) they certainly have enough influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I expect that this bill (as did S 2556 last session) would receive strong bipartisan support in Committee and ultimately in the Senate.

For a more detailed review of the details of this bill, see my article on CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-1400-introduced - Subscription Required.