Nick Lawler, General Manager of Littleton Electric Light & Water Department, has received the 2026 Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) Electricity Security Service Award in honor of Michael J. Assante.
The E-ISAC presented the award to Lawler at GridSecCon, which is the largest grid security conference in North America.
Co-hosted by NERC, the E-ISAC, and regional partners, GridSecCon brings together security experts and government leaders from across the North American electricity industry for a week of training, collaboration and networking.
The E-ISAC said that Lawler received the award by demonstrating exceptional leadership following the Volt Typhoon compromise at the Massachusetts public power utility.
His decision to openly share lessons learned with industry peers, federal partners, and utilities transformed a significant cyber incident into an opportunity to strengthen awareness and resilience across the sector, the E-ISAC noted.
"I’m honored to receive the Michael Assante Award," Lawler said. "Combating Volt Typhoon required close coordination across Public Power, federal partners, and our industry peers, and it reinforced how critical it is that Public Power utilities stay vigilant and share information quickly. This recognition belongs to the people and teams who put in the work every day to protect the grid and the communities we serve."
The award honors Assante, who helped establish the E-ISAC and served as NERC’s first chief security officer. His work and leadership helped shape collaboration and information sharing across the electric industry, the E-ISAC notes.
The other award recipient was Kellie Macpherson, COO at Radian Generation.
“This year’s recipients are leaders who have enhanced industry readiness and displayed a commitment to collaboration and community engagement,” the E-ISAC said.
Along with his role as General Manager of Littleton Electric Light & Water Department, Lawler also chairs APPA’s new Cybersecurity Committee, which was established earlier this year.
Created in 1999, the E-ISAC offers the electric industry analysis and rapid sharing of security information on how to mitigate complex, constantly evolving threats to the grid.
