The U.S. Department of Energy has begun notifying American Public Power Association members of new Rural and Municipal Cyber Assistance Program funding.
This funding will help public power utilities strengthen and modernize their cybersecurity efforts.
APPA received $2 million in funding for its Response Beacon program, which will help members improve their cybersecurity incident response capabilities.
“This funding is the latest example of how APPA collaboratively works with the federal government to help our member utilities bolster their cybersecurity defenses,” said Scott Corwin, President and CEO of APPA.
“We are grateful to DOE and Acting Under Secretary Alex Fitzsimmons for recognizing the importance of this critical program and continuing to support public power utilities,” he said.
At a House hearing on Jan. 13, Adrienne Lotto, Senior Vice President of Grid Security, Technical and Operations Services at the American Public Power Association, said that APPA strongly supports reauthorization of the RMUC.
Enacted in 2021, the RMUC Program was authorized and appropriated $250 million in grants and technical assistance over five years to rural, municipal, and small investor-owned electric utilities to enhance their security posture.
“APPA believes that this program is a once in a generation opportunity to improve cybersecurity of under-resourced, not-for-profit utilities that should be extended and expanded,” Lotto said at the hearing.
