Lawmakers mull new cyber powers for FERC

House lawmakers are considering legislation that would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) emergency powers to shore up the electric grid's cyber defenses. It's authority that utility companies say FERC doesn't need, and may not be qualified to exercise. The Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense (GRID) Act passed the full House last year, but stalled in the Senate. Now, its backers in the House are considering reintroducing the measure, which attempts to boost cyber protections in two areas: The nation's interstate bulk power supply system, and parts of the electric grid that supply power to Defense Department facilities that are critical to national security. Under the bill, FERC would have the authority, at the President's direction, to "with or without notice, hearing, or report, issue such orders for emergency measures as are necessary in its judgment to protect the reliability of the bulk-power system or of defense critical electric infrastructure against such threat." Potential cyber attacks to civilian critical infrastructure are something DoD worries a lot about, said Paul Stockton, the Pentagon's assistant secretary for homeland defense. He said the military depends on the private grid for 99 percent of its electric needs.