Cybersecurity, Reliability & CIP

For more than a decade, EPRI has been studying AI and its potential impacts on the energy sector, and in the last six years, the Institute has accelerated its activities around AI and data science. To date, EPRI has been involved in more than 75 projects related to AI applications in the energy sector.

“We bring in processes and techniques that let us go through an area of concern, evaluate pole by pole, and make a determination of what is the likelihood of that pole being compromised by this storm or not targeting the invest.”

“I’m pulling every lever we have to make sure we meet the reliability needs and coordinate the gas and electric side. What’s clear to me is we need somebody, it doesn’t have to be me, FERC, or NERC. We need somebody to step into that gap and make sure they’re focused on the job of protecting our gas reliability.”

“By optimizing power factor, reducing system losses, and lowering peak current, Powerhouse brings about a comprehensive improvement in the facility’s electrical system. This improvement is not just in terms of efficiency but also in safety and operational reliability.”

“There are companies that are consistent and dedicated to reliability, and it shows. It comes out in the consistency of the improvement in their performance. That is what we’ve been talking about. You have to keep getting better.”

From the Large Public Power Council’s “Power Shift” meeting on Washington D.C.’s Capitol Hill, excerpts of remarks by U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Omaha Public Power District CEO Javier Fernandez, LPPC Chair & Long Island Power Authority CEO Tom Falcone, and United States Energy Association CEO Mark Menezes.

“All Fusion Centers have access to relevant threat information that gets pushed out by the federal government, so I would highly encourage every utility to reach out to their Fusion Centers and see if there are ways they could partner with them on physical and cyber threats, if they aren’t doing so already.”

“Renewable power is at less risk if it’s on an installation behind a fence. Our fence provides security. That is why it’s attractive to utilities.”

“Nobody wants to touch a 20-year-old server, PLC, HMI or human machine interface, an engineering workstation in operational environment, and allow some computer or automated capability to block it. Putting automated detection and response capabilities in place for critical infrastructure is, for lack of a better term, critical.”

“We’ve worked cooperatively with states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, and Indiana that have strong cyber capacities within their respective public utility commissions.”