Sens. Murkowski, Risch introduce Energy Infrastructure Protection Act

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and James Risch (R-ID) introduced a bill to enhance protections for critical electric infrastructure.

The Energy Infrastructure Protection Act would update provisions in the Federal Power Act and restricts federal disclosures of certain sensitive energy information. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) currently protect information received from utilities, but this legislation would improve upon those protections.

“Protecting our nation’s electric infrastructure is a matter of national security,” Murkowski said. “Our bill equips the federal government with additional tools to safeguard the utility industry’s sensitive information. It also takes important steps to ensure that information critical to utility operations is not unintentionally exposed, as that could surrender America’s energy security to foreign adversaries.”

Specifically, the bill would direct the DOE and FERC to improve methods to protect critical energy information; grant explicit authority to DOE and FERC to help energy companies improve security; and allow federal, state, and local authorities to request that their own critical energy information be protected under special designation by DOE or FERC.

“It’s crucial that the federal government and electric industry work in tandem to defend our critical electric infrastructure,” Risch said. “The Energy Infrastructure Protection Act includes measures that will enable the federal government to protect utilities’ sensitive information from disclosures that could compromise our national security. I thank Chairman Murkowski for her shared leadership on this legislation, and I look forward to moving it through the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.”

Murkowski chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, while Risch is a senior member on the committee.