In the absence of new federal cybersecurity legislation,
FERC uses its available authority in an effort to increase the
resilience of the nation's critical electric infrastructure to
cyber attacks.
On September 20, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC
or the Commission) announced the creation of a new office, the
Office of Energy Infrastructure Security (OEIS), which will focus
on physical and cyber risks to energy facilities subject to FERC
jurisdiction.1 Headed by the current director of the
Office of Electric Reliability, Joseph McClelland, OEIS will assist
the Commission in identifying security risks, communicating those
risks to other federal and state agencies and regulated utilities,
and developing solutions to mitigate those risks. Consistent with
the existing approach taken by the Obama administration in the
absence of new legislation, FERC's action draws on its existing
statutory authority in an effort to increase the cyber resilience
of critical
