The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee on Sept. 30 approved several bills, including S. 5360, the Rural and Municipal Cybersecurity (RMUC) Act.
APPA is a strong supporter of the bill, which would reauthorize the RMUC Grant and Technical Assistance Program at the Department of Energy (DOE) through 2031 and authorize $250 million in appropriations.
Originally authorized in 2021, APPA and numerous public power utilities have received funding to develop and promote cybersecurity resources and training through RMUC.
The bill is sponsored by Senators Dave McCormick (R-PA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), John Hoeven (R-ND), John Curtis (R-UT), and Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV). The House companion, H.R. 7266, passed the House of Representatives in late June.
The committee also approved:
• S. 465, the GRID Power Act, which would direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reform the interconnection queue process to allow regional transmission organizations to prioritize dispatchable power. An amendment from Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-NV) to remove the word “dispatchable” from the bill was defeated on a party line vote. Heinrich argued that FERC should not be weighing in on one type of generation over another, whereas the bill’s sponsor, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), argued that adding more dispatchable power to the grid was necessary to ensure reliability. The GRID Power Act was approved by the committee on a party-line vote. A House companion, H.R. 1047, passed the House last fall.
• S. 4166, the SECURE Grid Act, which would reauthorize a program that requires every state and territory to have a State Energy Security Plan (SESP) on file with 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. The House companion bill, H.R. 7257, was approved by the House in June.
