Western Governors’ Association endorses electric grid cybersecurity bill

U.S. Sens. Angus King (I-ME) and Jim Risch (R-ID) announced Monday that the Western Governors’ Association (WGA), which includes 19 governors from Western states and three from Western U.S. territories, endorsed the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act.

The bill, introduced by the two senators, aims to protect the U.S. electric grid from cyber attacks.

“Securing our critical energy infrastructure systems is not a partisan issue. As noted by the Western Governors Association (WGA), it’s a national security issue that requires the attention of every state and federal leader,” Risch, a member of both the Senate Intelligence and Energy and Natural Resources Committees, said. “I thank the WGA for their endorsement of our bill, which utilizes the unique assets and expertise of our national laboratories to drive innovation as they re-examine critical infrastructure security.”

The WGA sent a letter earlier this month to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Subcommittee on Energy expressing their support for the legislation.

“The security of the United States electric grid is essential to the provision of reliable energy in the West,” Governors Dennis Daugaard (Chair, R-SD) and David Ige (Vice Chair, D-HI) said in the letter. “This bill advances the Western Governors’ goals of putting the United States on a path to energy security.”