The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy on Feb. 4 approved by voice vote five cybersecurity-related bills.
APPA Senior Vice President of Grid Security, Technical and Operations Services Adrienne Lotto testified before the subcommittee last month on these bills.
She provided commentary on each of the bills, but the majority of her testimony focused on the importance of reauthorizing the Rural and Municipal Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program (RMUC).
APPA and several public power utilities have received grants from this program to enhance the cybersecurity of public power.
The Department of Energy recently began notifying American Public Power Association members of new RMUC funding.
Details on the bills that were passed are as follows:
H.R. 7266, Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act
Sponsored by Reps. Mariannette Miller Meeks (R-IA) and Jennifer McClellan (D-VA), this bill would reauthorize RMUC through 2030 and authorize $250 million in appropriations.
The program provides technical and financial assistance to eligible entities, which include rural electric cooperatives, municipally owned utilities, and small investor-owned utilities, to protect and harden the systems against cyber threats and to increase participation in cybersecurity threat information sharing programs.
The legislation also amends the underlying statute to streamline financial assistance application processes to ensure funding is allocated to small and rural entities that need it most.
H.R. 7257, Securing Community Upgrades for a Resilient Grid (SECURE Grid) Act
Sponsored by Reps. Bob Latta (R-OH) and Doris Matsui (D-CA), this bill would reauthorize a program that requires every state and territory to have a State Energy Security Plan (SESP) on file with the Department of Energy (DOE) until 2030 and add requirements for what must go into SESPs, primarily having to do with supply chain security and threats to local distribution utilities.
H.R. 7272, Pipeline Cybersecurity Preparedness Act
Sponsored by Reps. Randy Weber (R-TX) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), this bill would require DOE to, in consultation with appropriate federal agencies and stakeholders, establish policies, procedures, and programs to enhance the cyber and physical security of pipelines.
H.R. 7305, Energy Threat Analysis Center Act of 2026
Sponsored by Reps. Gabe Evans (R-CO) and Kathy Castor (D-FL), this bill would codify a pilot program known as the Energy Threat Analysis Center (ETAC) housed at the National Laboratory of the Rockies working to integrate industry data with government intelligence to identify potential threats and develop actionable risk mitigation strategies.
H.R. 7258, Energy Emergency Leadership Act
Sponsored by Reps. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Greg Landsman (D-OH), this bill would expand the list of functions that the Secretary of Energy must assign to assistant secretaries under the DOE Organization Act to include energy emergency and energy security functions, including responsibilities with respect to energy infrastructure, security and resilience, emerging threats, cybersecurity, supply, and emergency planning and preparedness, coordination, response, and restoration.
