House Energy Subcommittee opens hearing on bills to strengthen DOE role and utility cybersecurity
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Summary
The subcommittee opened a hearing previewing a package of bipartisan bills to bolster Department of Energy leadership on emergencies, formalize pipeline cybersecurity work, create an Energy Threat Analysis Center (ETAC), and provide funding and technical assistance to small utilities; DOE testimony, including from Alex Fitzsimmons, was announced.
The Subcommittee on Energy of the House Energy and Commerce Committee opened a hearing to review a package of bills intended to strengthen national energy security and protect critical infrastructure.
In an opening statement, the chair said the Energy Emergency Leadership Act would "strengthen the Department of Energy's central energy sector security mission" by requiring that the department’s energy emergency and cyber functions be led by an assistant secretary confirmed by the Senate to ensure focused, accountable leadership. The chair said the change is intended to better protect the public from fuel and electricity supply disruptions and emerging threats from foreign adversaries.
The chair also described the Pipeline Cybersecurity Preparedness Act as a measure to enhance and formalize DOE work on pipeline cybersecurity, and said the Energy Threat Analysis Center Act would authorize a center (ETAC) to improve information sharing and threat analysis by bringing together public and private partners, including representatives from the intelligence community.
He said another bill would provide targeted funding and technical assistance to small utilities, electric cooperatives, and public power agencies that serve rural and remote communities. The chair recalled a recent field hearing in North Carolina about an attack on a Moore County substation that left about 30,000 people without power, and said the Secure Grid Act would expand visibility of local distribution and supply-chain threats.
"Today, we'll hear from the Department of Energy, which has been helpful providing technical assistance to our bipartisan work today," the chair said, announcing that Alex Fitzsimmons, identified in the transcript as an acting undersecretary at DOE, would provide the department’s perspective. The chair also said a second panel of frontline practitioners would testify on cyber and physical protection measures.
No formal votes were taken during the opening; the hearing moved next to witness testimony and Q&A.