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Middleborough, Mass., utility’s pilot program tracks EV use and charging

October 5, 2020

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 5, 2020

Middleborough Gas and Electric Department (MGED) in Massachusetts has entered into an agreement for a two-year electric vehicle pilot program in a partnership with FleetCarma.

Through the SmartCharge New England program, owners of electric vehicles in MGED’s territory will be able to earn cash rewards for charging their vehicles.

Customers who have already installed a level-2 electric vehicle charger at their homes and have applied for a rebate on the charger are eligible for an off-peak charging reward of up to $5 per month.

Customers who installed a home charger before 2020 and did not receive a rebate are eligible for a reward of up to $10 per month for off-peak charging. In addition, the first 20 participants in the program will also receive a $50 early sign up bonus.

FleetCarma provides hardware and software services that enables utilities to track electric vehicle usage and charging patterns. The company’s software tracks and stores data on where an electric vehicle goes and in which utility territory it charges its batteries.

Electric vehicles in MGED’s territory are “just beginning to take off, and we want to get ahead of the curve,” Sandy Richter, public communications director for the utility, said. There are currently only about 60 or 70 electric vehicles in the public power utility’s territory, but “we want to change people’s [charging] habits before this [new transportation technology] becomes a big thing,” she said.

The utility is trying to avoid a scenario in which a growing number of electric vehicles pushes up peak demand in the [early] evening, putting more strain on resources and the prices customers would eventually have to pay.

If those kinds of charging loads can be shifted to later in the evening and [over] night, it would benefit MGED’s system and customers overall, Richter said. MGED’s winter load peak between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Off-peak hours for the SmartCharge program are weekdays between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.

Funding for the SmartCharge program is coming from money collected under Massachusetts state law that requires utilities in the state to set aside one-quarter of 1% of revenues for residential conservation services, including electrification efforts.

In addition to learning more about the behavior of electric vehicles owners, the SmartCharge program will also allow MGED to build closer relationships with a segment of its customers that is technologically savvy and will be an increasingly important portion of the utility’s demographic in the coming years, Richter said.

The SmartCharge program is being run in conjunction with the public power utility’s existing MGED Drives Electric program under which the utility began offering rebates for the installation of home charging units since 2020 and in 2019 began offering rebates for the purchase of used electric vehicles through the Second Drive program it offers in conjunction with the city of Taunton’s public power utility.

MGED’s partner in all three electric vehicle rebate programs is Energy New England, a joint action agency. “These kinds of programs need a team,” Richter said. “ENE was our agency partner.”

Energy New England reached out to FleetCarma, which typically works with much larger utilities, and worked out a partnership to aggregate public power utility customers for Fleetcarma’s services and customize those services for individual utilities.

Energy New England brough FleetCarma in as a partner “to offer our clients additional options for EV charge management,” John Tzimorangas, ENE’s president and CEO, said via email. ENE provides marketing and customer acquisition and supports the relationship and assists to ensure a positive customer experience, he said.

“It’s ENE’s goal to offer solutions to fit each utility’s unique goals and needs,” Tzimorangas said. “We expect that more utilities will sign on the SmartCharge New England as they experience increased EV adoption in their service territories.”

SRP survey reveals that nearly 40% of Ariz. EV drivers say charging costs lower than expected

October 2, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 2, 2020

Nearly 40 percent of Arizona-based EV customers say that costs associated with charging their vehicles are lower or much lower than expected, according to the results from a survey released by Arizona public power utility Salt River Project on Sept. 28.

SRP released the results from its EV community survey completed by 1,269 SRP customers part of the SRP EV Community, conducted between Aug. 24 and Sept. 17, 2020. It is the fourth annual survey of its kind that collects insights from SRP customers on their experiences owning and driving EVs, SRP noted in a news release.

SRP’s 2020 EV community survey, completed by 1,269 SRP customers that are part of the SRP EV Community, was conducted between Aug. 24 and Sept. 17, 2020. Eligible SRP customers receive a $50 Amazon gift card as an incentive for joining the SRP EV Community. As SRP EV Community members, customers hear about opportunities, news and other SRP EV initiatives, and also have the opportunity to provide valuable feedback, which helps shape SRP’s EV programs, rate plans and charging solutions, SRP noted.

SRP said that the survey found that 39 percent of Arizona-based EV customers say that costs associated with charging their vehicles are lower – or much lower – than expected.

Fifty percent of respondents said that costs are equal to expected, and only 9 percent said costs are higher than expected.

More than 73% of EV customers say they regularly use the timer on their EV to charge it during off-peak hours.

More than 84% of EV customers would recommend buying an electric vehicle to a friend or colleague. This percentage of EV promotors grows each year, increased from 74% of promoters in 2017, SRP said.

Additional insights from this year’s survey found:

Using feedback from customers, SRP has implemented behavior-based, energy-saving programs like its Electric Vehicle Price Plan that support current and prospective EV owners and drivers, the utility said.

This price plan works similarly to the SRP time-of-use price plans and is designed to help EV owners lower energy costs by charging their vehicles during off-peak hours, between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. SRP also developed the Electric Vehicle Export Price Plan for customers who produce some of their own energy with rooftop solar and customers are credited for the energy they generate.

SRP reported that satisfaction among Arizona-based EV customers continues to grow, with extremely high “Net Promoter Scores” and an annual increase in survey respondents who would recommend buying an electric vehicle to a friend or colleague. “This is especially significant this year, as the latest survey results were taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which, more than 56% of respondents say they have driven their EVs significantly less since the COVID-19 outbreak began,” the utility said.

SRP said it continues to gain insights from its EV customer base to better support the enablement of more EVs in the Valley, and more than 84% of respondents in the latest survey said they are willing to participate in follow-up research on their experiences as an EV driver.

SRP plans more research

As part of its programmatic research efforts last year, SRP launched “SmartCharge AZ,” an EV pilot program partnering with FleetCarma. This pilot is made up of five hundred SRP residential EV owners and helps SRP understand charging behaviors. It offers a controlled load-shifting program designed to promote charging during times beneficial to the power grid while also reducing customer costs.

After receiving the latest EV Community survey insights, SRP plans to initiate more research around public charging stations, focused on how the utility can instill improved customer confidence in driving between home and available EV charging stations.

SRP noted that it continues to offer incentives and rebates to commercial customers to install EV chargers in public parking lots, workplaces, multi-family dwellings and more to increase the number of EV charger ports in the Valley and state.

By 2035, SRP plans to support the enablement of 500,000 EVs in SRP’s service territory and manage 90% of EV charging through price plans, dispatchable load management, original equipment manufacturer integration, connected smart homes, behavioral and other emerging programs.

House passes $2.2 trillion pandemic response legislation

October 2, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 2, 2020

The House on Oct. 1 voted 214 to 207 in support of a $2.2 trillion revision of the HEROES Act.

The action came as negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on COVID relief legislation appear to have gained little traction.

Differences between the two sides have narrowed in the nearly five months since the original version of the HEROES Act was passed by the House.

Pelosi recently said she would continue to meet with Mnuchin, but without an agreement, the House would adjourn through the election, with members on call to return to Washington if a deal is reached before a post-election lame-duck session.

An additional $4.5 billion in supplemental funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) would be provided as part of the latest $2.2 trillion comprehensive COVID-19 response legislation under a proposal by House Democrats.

Increased funding for LIHEAP funding has been a top priority for the American Public Power Association.

The legislation does not include language to create a forgivable loan program at the Department of Energy to assist not-for-profit electric utilities impacted by increased customer non-payments due to COVID-19.

“The lack of inclusion of the language, a priority for APPA, while disappointing, is not a surprise given House leadership based the legislation on an earlier version of the HEROES Act, which had no such language,” said Desmarie Waterhouse, Vice President, Government Relations and Counsel.

The Senate is not expected to vote on the House-passed bill given the size and scope of its provisions. However, if House and Senate leadership and the White House eventually reach an agreement on a COVID-relief package, it will likely vary from the HEROES Act.

APPA is continuing its efforts in the Senate for inclusion of the forgivable loan program language in a future COVID-relief bill.

The HEROES Act was passed by the House in May.

House Democrats propose $4.5 billion in supplemental LIHEAP funding

September 29, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 29, 2020

An additional $4.5 billion in supplemental funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) would be provided as part of the latest $2.2 trillion comprehensive COVID-19 response legislation under a proposal by House Democrats.

Increased funding for LIHEAP funding has been a top priority for the American Public Power Association.

The proposal put forward by House Democrats would exceed the $4.3 billion sought by APPA and the National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition. APPA is an ex officio member of the NEUAC board.

LIHEAP provides federally funded assistance in managing costs associated with home energy bills, energy crises and weatherization and energy-related minor home repairs.

The bill is an updated version of the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act, which the House passed in May.

Also of relevance to public power utilities, the proposal would provide $436 billion in direct aid to states and local governments, including a formula designed to ensure that smaller cities and rural communities receive a direct apportionment of relief funding, rather than relying on state governors to provide them with an allocation of funding provided to states.

These new funds and Coronavirus Relief Funds from the CARES Act could be used to replace lost revenues, including lost utility revenues.

The legislation would also allow state and local governments to claim the payroll tax credits intended to offset newly mandated emergency paid sick leave and emergency paid family leave.

The House is expected to pass the bill on a party line vote as early as Oct. 1.

The Senate is not expected to take up the measure.

Meanwhile, talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on COVID-19 response legislation remains largely at a stand still.

House passes Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, creating opportunity for Senate energy bill

September 25, 2020

by Susan Partain
APPA News
September 25, 2020

On September 24, the House passed H.R. 4447, the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, by a vote of 220-185. The $135 billion package includes several clean energy and workforce bills from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Natural Resources Committee, and Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

The bill would authorize major investments in Department of Energy (DOE) research and development programs, including for wind, solar, geothermal, carbon capture, and hydropower. The bill also includes several energy efficiency provisions from the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitive Act of 2019 (H.R. 3962), which the American Public Power Association supports.

H.R. 4447 also incorporates a variety of “energy innovation” bills, including H.R. 2986, the Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act, which would direct DOE to establish a competitive grant program, for which public power utilities would be eligible, for the demonstration of energy storage technology. APPA supports the BEST Act.

Some provisions of concern to public power utilities include additions of “must consider” provisions to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to consider changes to Order 1000, and creation of a voluntary, streamlined process for local permitting and inspection of distributed energy resources, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. These provisions are not included in the Senate energy bill.

Prior to final passage, the House voted to adopt two en bloc amendments and an amendment from Representative Debra Haaland (D-NM).

The amendment from Haaland would increase authorizations for renewables by 50% and add an authorization for total funding for research, development, demonstration, and commercialization for the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Many of the adopted en bloc amendments relate to funding or authorizing specific activities at DOE, including new research and development and wildfire mitigation. For the former, one specific amendment would support research and development on underground transmission and distribution lines, including methods for lowering costs, ways to increase resiliency, and wireless sensors to detect degradation and faults. For the latter, one such activity would be for the DOE to create a geospatial map of wildfire risk around utility infrastructure to improve planning for grid hardening, vegetation management, and emergency access points.

Reactions around Washington

In comments made on the House floor Wednesday, Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) noted that the bill, “represents a significant investment in clean energy infrastructure and job-creation. In addition to investing in clean energy production, distribution, and storage, this legislation sets new energy efficiency standards for buildings and provides funding for homes, schools, manufacturing facilities, and public buildings to upgrade and improve their energy efficiency. It makes bold investments in wind and solar, in advanced nuclear technologies, and in helping to decarbonize the fossil-fuel sector.”

On Monday, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy in opposition to H.R. 4447, saying the bill “would implement a top-down approach that would undermine the Administration’s deregulatory agenda and empower the government to select favored solutions while reinstating big-government policies and programs.”

House Rules Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) noted in a meeting Monday about the bill that “the goal here is to come up with a consensus bill with the Senate” and said that he expects some of the provisions that House Republicans do not like will be removed should the bill go to conference.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Ranking Member Joe Manchin (D-WV) developed a bipartisan energy innovation bill, the American Energy Innovation Act, which was unable to clear a procedural hurdle in early March. Since then, one of the major holdups, disagreements over the regulation of hydrofluorocarbons, has been resolved by a bipartisan group of senators. Sen. Murkowski is pushing for the bill to be brought up for a vote before the end of the year, before she ends her term as Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. APPA supports the American Energy Innovation Act, which is more focused legislation with bipartisan Senate support.

However, given the limited legislative calendar and the likelihood of the Senate considering a Supreme Court nominee, the path forward for the American Energy Innovation Act and the opportunity to conference with the House bill is unclear. Further, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has placed a legislative hold on the bill, which could prevent it from receiving floor consideration.

DOE awards $12 million to APPA, NRECA for cybersecurity solutions

September 25, 2020

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 25, 2020

The Department of Energy has announced $12 million in cooperative agreements with the American Public Power Association (APPA) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) to develop and deploy solutions to cyber and cyber-physical threats.

The cooperative agreement funding, which comes through the DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), allocates $6 million to each organization.

APPA will work alongside CESER’s Cybersecurity for Energy Delivery Systems division, which carries out CESER’s research and development function, and the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which will develop and demonstrate the final cyber and cyber-physical solutions that are slated to be deployed to utilities by 2023.

“Grid security is a journey, not a destination,” said APPA President and CEO Joy Ditto. “This funding from DOE-CESER will provide us with critical resources to continue to navigate this journey. Developing and enhancing tools to assist public power and co-ops in protecting critical infrastructure will ultimately benefit the entire industry.”

Solutions developed and deployed under this cooperative agreement will help provide utilities with hardware, firmware and/or software to protect the key operational technology components that enable the safe control of the physical systems that deliver electric power.

According to a press release from CESER, “The solutions will detect and respond to adversarial activity through community-led information sharing; use artificial intelligence to reduce false positives in threat detection; provide advanced analytics for pinpointing when and where a system was compromised; increase system resilience, and employ autonomous defense at remote endpoints.”

“Our goal here is to utilize our unique capability as a national convener of public power utilities, working with our members and other organizations, to help develop, demonstrate, and deploy cybersecurity solutions,” Alex Hofmann, APPA’s vice president of technical and operations services, said.

CESER was established in February 2018 with $96 million in funding aimed at bolstering the DOE’s cybersecurity and energy security efforts.

This cooperative agreement, which is focused on defense of operational technology, is separate from, but builds on, a cooperative agreement APPA entered into with the DOE in 2016 to develop a culture of cybersecurity within public power. That partnership, called Cybersecurity for Energy Delivery Systems, or CEDS, resulted in several public power-specific resources, including the Public Power Cybersecurity Scorecard, the Public Power Cybersecurity Roadmap and the Public Power Incidence Response Playbook.

Utilities can find additional information and resources on the CEDS program on our website.

Colorado Springs Utilities signs PPA for 175-MW solar plus storage project

September 22, 2020

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 22, 2020

Colorado Springs Utilities has signed a 17-year power purchase agreement for all the output of a 175-megawatt (MW) solar power project coupled with a 25-MW, four-hour battery energy storage system being developed by juwi.

Boulder, Colo.- based juwi is a developer, engineering-procurement-construction contractor, and operator of utility-scale renewable energy projects and is wholly owned by German renewable energy company juwi AG.

The Pike Solar and Storage project is sited in El Paso County and is slated to begin construction in early 2022 and be completed in 2023. When built, it will be the largest solar facility and first contracted storage system on Colorado Springs Utilities’ system.

The energy stored in the battery will be discharged during peak periods when electricity prices are high or into the night when the solar facility is not generating electricity.

With the addition of Pike Solar to the utility’s other solar, wind and hydro resources, renewable energy will comprise an estimated 27% of Colorado Springs Utilities’ energy portfolio.

When completed, the 25-MW storage system will be one of the largest in the state. “The additional solar we will bring online will help diversify our energy mix and help us reach our Energy Vision goal of achieving 80% carbon reduction by 2030,” Aram Benyamin, the CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities, said.

On June 26, the public power utility’s board approved a Sustainable Energy Plan for Colorado Springs that aligns with the utility’s Energy Vision plan. The plan calls for the retirement of all the utility’s coal-fired generation by 2030, including the Martin Drake plant in downtown Colorado Springs no later than 2023.

To retire the Drake plant, Colorado Springs Utilities is placing temporary power generation units, primary fired by natural gas, at the power plant site to ensure system reliability. Once new transmission projects are completed, generation will no longer be needed in downtown Colorado Springs, and the gas plants will be relocated.

Pike is the second solar project Colorado Springs Utilities and juwi have worked on together. The first, Palmer Solar, is a 60-MW facility and is currently the largest solar project on Colorado Springs Utilities’ system.

When the Pike Solar project is completed, Colorado Springs Utilities’ solar portfolio, which in addition to Pike and Palmer includes the Grazing Yak solar plant, will be able to procure 270 MW of solar energy at an average rate of less than $28 per megawatt hour (MWh), spokesperson Natalie Watts said.

Snohomish County PUD launches study of EV driving and charging patterns

September 21, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 21, 2020

Washington State’s Snohomish County PUD is teaming up with FleetCarma on a two-year study of driving and charging patterns and other data related to electric vehicles.

The study was launched earlier this month, with eligible drivers starting to register for the study on Sept. 9, Snohomish County PUD noted. The study hit its limit of 100 participants later that week. There is currently a waiting list for customers.

Suzanne Frew, PUD Senior Project Manager Strategy and Emerging Technology, noted that “We have over 6,000 EV owners in our service territory and many are ‘enthusiasts’ who want to share their data to support the growth of electric vehicles. We had many interested prior to the rollout but with any program, you never know the customer response. On Sept. 9, we launched the program and sent out an email promoting the new program to our EV Customer Community, which has approximately 1,000 customers. In about a week, we were up to 112 participants in the study, so we have 12 customers currently on the waiting list. It was good to see the response and level of customer interest.”

With respect to what motivated the PUD to do this study, Frew said there were two main drivers/goals for the program.

The first was to learn more about the PUD’s customers who regularly drive electric vehicles — both their driving and charging habits. “Our service territory is a mix of rural and suburban areas, and many of our customers have long commutes throughout the Puget Sound region. We want to find out where and when our EV owners are driving and charging their vehicles,” she noted.

FleetCarma will provide information on charging duration and load plus trip data that the PUD can use to inform rate schedules, grid impacts, charging infrastructure needs and potential customer programs.

“The second goal was to find out if we could change their charging behavior to lower the impact on our grid. The first year of the program establishes a baseline and the second year provides incentives to those customers who charge off peak. Our goal is to encourage all of our EV drivers to charge off peak to increase the benefit to all of our ratepayers,” said Frew.

To be eligible, drivers must be a Snohomish PUD customer, live year-round in the PUD’s service territory and own or lease an EV or plug-in EV through fall 2022.

Study participants will install a small device in their vehicle that collects and transmits vehicle information via a cellular connection, Snohomish County PUD said in a news release.

Data collected will be shared with participants through a personalized portal and will be used by FleetCarma, a Toronto, Canada-based company that collects driving and charging data to help utilities better understand EVs, and the PUD to better understand EVs and charging impacts to the grid. Customer data will not be sold to outside parties or used for marketing purposes, the PUD said.

Based on meeting certain qualifications, participating customers can receive up to $185 over the two years of the study. Payments are based on installing the device and providing vehicle driving and charging data and off-peak charging in both years of the study.

FleetCarma’s installed device will collect information about charging session duration, energy consumption and location. GPS charging location coordinates will be used to determine how much charging is occurring within the PUD’s service territory and trip duration, energy consumption and distance traveled.

Addressing the question of why SnoPUD decided to partner with FleetCarma on the study, Frew said that FleetCarma offered a turn-key solution and unique features that other vendors did not. “We also established a good working relationship where we explained our needs and jointly worked toward the best solution. They have continued to evolve their product which is a key to success for emerging technology.”

LES partnering with FleetCarma

Public power utility Lincoln Electric System (LES) is partnering with FleetCarma on a similar project to study charging and driving habits of customers in the Lincoln, Neb., area over a 2-year period.

LES was previously awarded a $46,075 grant from the American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments program to help support the project.

In July, APPA hosted a webinar about the project. Additional details about the webinar are available here

FERC issues NOI on threats from equipment sourced from foreign adversaries

September 21, 2020

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 21, 2020

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is seeking comments on the potential risks to the bulk electric system posed by equipment and services produced or provided by entities identified as risks to national security.

The Notice of Inquiry (NOI), docket # RM20-19-000, also seeks comments on whether or not the current Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) reliability standards adequately mitigate the identified risks and on what possible actions the commission could consider taking to address the risks. The NOI is also seeking comment on the extent to which equipment and services provided by such entities are used in the operation of the bulk electric system.

Since October 2018 when FERC issued Order 850, which approved the existing CIP reliability standards on supply chain risk management, there have been significant developments in the form of Executive Orders, legislation, as well as federal agency actions that raise concerns over the potential risks posed by the use of equipment and services provided by certain entities identified as risks to national security, the NOI says.

In particular, Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation “have been identified as examples of such certain entities because they provide communication systems and other equipment and services that are critical to bulk electric system reliability,” the NOI said.

The NOI says both entities have close ties to the Chinese government at both the ownership and employee level. In addition, under Chinese law, both entities have obligations that permit Chinese government entities, including state intelligence agencies, to demand that private communications sector entities cooperate with governmental requests, including revealing customer information and network traffic information.

And while there are many manufacturers of networking and telecommunications equipment, Huawei and ZTE are “gaining substantial shares of the market globally,” the NOI says, adding that systems are also vulnerable to Huawei and ZTE components embedded in equipment produced by unaffiliated vendors. That raises the probability that electric utilities now use “a significant amount” of telecommunications equipment with embedded components from Huawei and ZTE, the NOI says.

“If these obscured, or potentially unlabeled, components are present in an electric utility’s infrastructure, the same risks may exist as if the hardware had been purchased directly from Huawei, ZTE or one of its subsidiaries,” the NOI says.

The NOI cited Executive Order 13,873, which directs the Secretary of Commerce to identify equipment from a foreign adversary that has the potential for sabotage.

Executive Order 13,920, issued May 1, 2020, declared a national emergency in that foreign adversaries are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in the bulk power system, including substations, generating stations and control rooms, and that unrestricted foreign supply of equipment constitutes a threat to national security. The order also created a Task Force on Federal Energy Infrastructure Procurement Policies Related to National Security, chaired by the Secretary of Energy.

In June 2020, the Federal Communications Commission issued orders designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats to the integrity of communications networks and the communications supply chain.

Comments on the NOI are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, and reply comments are due 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Joint FERC-NERC report outlines best cyber security practices

September 21, 2020

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 21, 2020

Staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electricity Reliability Corporation (NERC) have published a report detailing utility best practices for response and recovery from cyber attacks.

The report, Cyber Planning for Response and Recovery Study (CYPRES), was developed based on interviews with subject matter experts from eight electric utilities of varying size and function. The report includes the joint staffs’ observations on the utilities’ defensive capabilities and the effectiveness of their incident response and recovery (IRR) plans.

The report identifies common elements among the incident response and recovery plans, including the definition and scope of a cyber incident, the roles and responsibilities of staff, reporting requirements and guidelines for external communication, as well as procedures to evaluate performance in the wake of an attack.

While acknowledging that there is no single best incident response and recovery plan model, the FERC/NERC team identified best practices that utilities should consider when developing their IRR plans.

Specifically, an effective incident response and recovery plan should:

Among other observations, the report found that well defined roles and responsibilities became clearer to participants after participating in exercises, such as NERC’s Grid Security Exercise (GridEx), to test their response and recovery plans. Many participants in the report said they modified their incident response and recovery plans after completing the GridEx process.

GridEx, which takes place every two years, allows utilities, government partners and other critical infrastructure participants to engage with local and regional first responders, exercise cross-sector impacts, improve unity of effort messages and communication, identify lessons learned and engage senior leadership.

The most recent GridEx occurred in 2019. In 2017, 53 public power entities participated in GridEx, while in 2019, 100 public power entities participated.

Meanwhile, some participants in the report also noted that virtualization is a useful tool. Virtualization uses software to operate as if it were an actual physical device. Virtualizing hardware allows one physical device to house many virtual devices, reducing hardware and real estate costs.

And, because a virtualized device can be easily saved and restored, it can save hours of work when a software glitch occurs. In the same way, if a cyber attack were to require the reinstallation of a new machine, virtualization would make the restoration process less costly and time consuming.

The report concludes that an “effective IRR plans can mitigate the natural advantages that cyber attackers possess.” Because cyber attackers operate covertly, “effective IRR plans should be in place and response teams should be prepared to detect, contain, and, when appropriate, eradicate the cyber threat before it can impact the utility’s operations.”