Today’s LiveWire Spotlight looks at a complaint submitted to FERC by Michael Mabee criticizing NERC’s alleged ineffectiveness to assure the security of the Bulk Power System from terrorist or nation state cyber-attacks. He cites publicly available evidence showing that Entities are incautiously purchasing critical electric equipment – primarily high-voltage transformers – from China. Mr. Mabee urges the Commission to direct NERC to develop a Reliability Standard addressing the testing and security of BES equipment purchased from rogue countries as identified by the Department of Homeland Security.
FERC is in the process of reviewing the Mabee Complaint and along with the associated interventions, protests, and commentary. It is too early to tell whether the Commission will take further action on the securitization of BES equipment acquired from China.