PSE&G gets SAFETY Act liability protections for anti-terrorism program

Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) obtained SAFETY Act liability protections from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the deployment of security measures designed to detect, deter, and recover from acts of terrorism.

The New Jersey-based company is the first public utility in the country to get such protections. The protections cover the PSEG Holistic Security Model, an anti-terrorism program created at five PSE&G critical electrical sites in New Jersey. It will run through July 31, 2023.

“PSEG immediately recognized the value of having PSE&G become the first public utility to be granted SAFETY Act protection,” Aaron Ford, vice president and chief security officer of PSEG’s Corporate Security and Claims group, said. “The SAFETY Act process not only offered us an opportunity to demonstrate our industry leadership, it also helped us identify ways to make our security program even stronger and more dynamic. That intangible benefit ─ learning how we and our industry partners can better protect America’s energy infrastructure ─ was itself worth the effort.”

Congress approved the SAFETY Act after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as an incentive for private companies to develop and deploy effective anti-terrorism technologies and services. The bill offers liability protections from lawsuits if a terrorist attack impacts a company’s “Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology.”

The PSEG Holistic Security Model consists of 11 core components, including PSEG’s Infrastructure Risk-Rating Tool and Vulnerability Assessment Processes, Business Interruption Management Model, Industry Liaison Security Model, and Threat Level Advisory System. The remaining components utilize PSEG’s Enterprise Security Plans and Procedures, Security Awareness Training Program, Background Checks and Insider Threat Mitigation Program, Security Command Centers, Physical Security Measures and Equipment, Procurement Processes for Physical Security Services and Equipment, and Physical Security Exercises and Assessments.

“The liability protections granted to PSE&G open up a new frontier for the SAFETY Act program,” said Ray Biagini of Covington & Burling LLP, who assisted PSE&G with its SAFETY Act application. “It sends a clear message to energy and utility companies that DHS is willing to work through complex applications that are of a great consequence to our national security. As the first-of-its-kind, this decision will help set the standards by which future energy and utility SAFETY Act applications are evaluated.”