By Sean Lyngaas
Originally published by Federal Computer Week
The Obama administration wants to put another $15 million toward bolstering the physical and cybersecurity of the country’s electricity grid. The funding, if approved by Congress, would concentrate on community-owned utilities and electricity cooperatives, which generally have less money to spend on cybersecurity than bigger, investor-owned utilities.
The money would be distributed over three years and support programs run by two groups that represent local utilities: the American Public Power Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. The work would include developing security tools and training programs to improve security culture for APPA and NRECA members, the Energy Department said in a news release.
“An example of a weak point for us is the varied nature of the electricity sector,” Deputy Energy Secretary Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said July 12 at a Bloomberg Government event. “We have major investor-owned utilities with significant resources; we also have smaller utilities.”
Read the original Federal Computer Week story here.
