Electrical Generation & Distribution Resiliency

The bill requires the public utilities commission (commission) to evaluate electrical generation and grid resilience against geomagnetic storms (evaluation) and report the findings of the evaluation to the general assembly. The bill requires each electrical utility that is subject to the jurisdiction of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to annually submit a critical energy infrastructure information request to the federal energy regulatory commission. If the utility receives the permission, each of these electrical utilities must annually brief the general assembly on the utility's contingency action plan and any information necessary to:

• Evaluate the ability of and identify shortfalls to restoring electrical power operation, fuel delivery, and equipment function within specified time frames following certain types of geomagnetic storms; and
• Evaluate the certification of hardware and software monitoring and controlling systems for energy generation and distribution.

The bill sets standards for the evaluation. Based on the evaluation, the commission shall adopt rules requiring an electrical utility to meet resiliency standards for geomagnetic storms. The rules include:

• Requiring the monitoring of the space weather prediction center of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration in order to isolate large power transformers and power generation from the grid;
• Mechanically isolating critical components if or when a coronal mass ejection is likely to cause geomagnetically induced currents;
• Restricting or closing fuel pipeline valves to mitigate damage in a sectional failure;
• Installing automatic neutral ground blocking devices in large power transformers;
• Ensuring that computer equipment can be mechanically isolated from the grid and sheltered from geomagnetically induced surges;
• Requiring all networked systems that operate electrical generation and distribution to be electronically and physically separable from the outside networks; and
• Requiring the cyber-certification of hardware and software that operate electrical generation and distribution.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)