Edison Electric Institute
Tom Fanning is the CEO of Southern Company. Bill Fehrman is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
EEI met early June with its Road to Net Zero and took an in-depth look at the major technology and policy milestones on the pathway to decarbonization.
In the never-ending quest to safeguard the energy grid from cyber threats, the proliferation of operational control devices connected to IT networks presents an evolving defense frontier for the industry. This panel of two top CEOs explored the growing collaboration between the federal government and the electricity sector to help secure the grid at a time of growing cyber peril. Enjoy these excerpts.
CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Bill Fehrman: Berkshire Hathaway Energy and Southern Company operate in different parts of the United States, but we both have common agreement around the criticality of cybersecurity and the infrastructure needs we're all accountable for.
We also agree on security as a team sport and partnership within our industry across government, industry, and the rest of us, is fundamental and essential to be successful. Tom, since you co-chair the Electric Subsector Coordinating Council or ESCC, explain some of the priorities, and interfaces with government.
CEO, Southern Company, Tom Fanning: With respect to the ESCC, I'm the co-chair along with folks from the munies and the co-op sector. We started out with the notion of being focused on cybersecurity.