I thank Chairman Markey for holding this important hearing. We appreciate our witnesses joining us this morning.
The House Homeland Security Committee has examined this issue, focusing on the vulnerability in electric generator control systems that could allow remote access, enabling a bad actor to remotely destroy a generator. We have also begun to look at these issues here, including classified briefings with the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Today, we will seek additional answers, with a focus on the most productive way to ensure the security of our energy infrastructure. I hope we can work together on bipartisan legislation to address this serious issue.
It is my hope that legislation to protect our critical infrastructure also includes Alaska, Hawaii and the territories. Currently NERC does not cover these areas. Our critical national security assets, particularly in Alaska and Hawaii, are too important to ignore. Domestic infrastructure should be protected for cybersecurity generally, in addition to physical and electromagnetic threats. Additionally, I don’t think it is enough to just cover the bulk power system, we must also include the distribution system. It has become clear that distribution system outages/vulnerabilities can lead to problems with the bulk power system, and critical defense facilities are connected at the distribution level. There is no question that this legislation should be comprehensive. We should seek to fill as many security gaps as possible. The threats we face are much too serious and abundant to only address a small portion of our vulnerability – the stakes could not be higher.
As we know, security isn’t free. There will be a cost to protecting our critical energy and national defense infrastructure. Our legislation should provide a mechanism by which all generators - regardless of whether or not they are rate regulated by a state PUC—are capable of recovering the cost of investments they are required to make in the name of protecting the national security of the United States.
The security of our nation’s energy infrastructure from attack is one of the most important issues our committee will address. This is not an issue we can take lightly or cover in just one hearing. Energy has been one of the leading issues debated in Congress this year – rightfully so. Energy literally powers our economy. Even small price spikes and supply disruptions can wreak havoc on the economy. It is imperative that the security of our nation’s energy infrastructure gets the attention it deserves.
I yield back.
