On January 14, 2025, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order on “Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure” (the “EO”), with the goals of preserving U.S. economic competitiveness and access to powerful AI models, preventing U.S. dependence on foreign infrastructure, and promoting U.S. clean energy production to power
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FERC Orders Development of New Internal Network Security Monitoring Standards
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a final rule (Order No. 887) directing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) to develop new or modified Reliability Standards that require internal network security monitoring (“INSM”) within Critical Infrastructure Protection (“CIP”) networked environments. This Order may be of interest to entities that develop, implement, or maintain hardware or software for operational technologies associated with bulk electric systems (“BES”).
The forthcoming standards will only apply to certain high- and medium-impact BES Cyber Systems. The final rule also requires NERC to conduct a feasibility study for implementing similar standards across all other types of BES Cyber Systems. NERC must propose the new or modified standards within 15 months of the effective date of the final rule, which is 60 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. Continue Reading FERC Orders Development of New Internal Network Security Monitoring Standards
DOE Requested Information on How Defense Production Act Could Support National Security and Grid Resiliency
The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a request for information (RFI) from the public on how the Defense Production Act (DPA) could best be used to accelerate domestic manufacturing and deployment of key technologies, strengthen U.S. power grid reliability, and deploy clean energy. This input will help DOE design DPA actions that scale up clean energy while strengthening national security and reducing fuel prices. Continue Reading DOE Requested Information on How Defense Production Act Could Support National Security and Grid Resiliency
FERC Proposes Major Changes to Generator Interconnection Process
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) to reform its generator interconnection process. The proposed rules are intended to expedite the connection of new generator and storage facilities to the grid, and to clear out a burgeoning interconnection backlog, predominantly of…
Continue Reading FERC Proposes Major Changes to Generator Interconnection ProcessLines, Labor and Leveraging Capital: How the AJP Would Upgrade Transmission Infrastructure
This blog is the twelfth in our series, “The ABCs of the AJP.”
Power lines, strung between high-voltage transmission towers, are etched across the American landscape. Yet the United States’ current transmission infrastructure is outdated and inefficient, plagued by bottlenecks and weak interconnections across regions, which limit the grid’s ability to integrate renewable generation and its overall resilience. Improving and expanding the Nation’s transmission infrastructure is therefore central to the American Jobs Plan’s (AJP) grid modernization, decarbonization and job-creation goals.
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Jumpstarting A Cleaner, More Resilient Economy With Jobs
This is the tenth in our series on “The ABCs of the AJP.”
Jobs, unsurprisingly, are at the heart of the Biden Administration’s ambitious, multi-trillion dollar infrastructure plan. After all, the plan also goes by the name The American Jobs Plan (“AJP”). Each of the sweeping goals of the AJP—from addressing climate change, to developing a resilient electricity grid, to competing with China over clean energy supply chains—promises to create thousands of new jobs.
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Grid Modernization and Greenhouse Gases
This blog is the seventh in a series, “The ABCs of the AJP.”
Grid Modernization and Resiliency
Grid modernization and resiliency are critical and intertwined issues that only grow more important as climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. As the Biden Administration notes in its American Jobs Plan fact sheet, recent power outages in Texas took a tremendous human and economic toll, and power outages generally cost the country $70 billion dollars a year in lost productivity. In light of that figure, the American Jobs Plan’s proposed $100 billion dollar investment in grid modernization may be too conservative. When factoring in health and environmental benefits, the return on investment for an improved grid looks to be extraordinarily robust.
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NY ISO Outlines Steps For Integrating Distributed Resources
The NY Independent System Operator recently issued a plan for addressing the nuts-and-bolts issues associated with integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) into the wholesale electricity market. The NYISO says its Distributed Energy Resources Roadmap for New York’s Wholesale Electricity Markets is “the first step in building (the) grid of the…
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Trump Executive Order Labels “Improving the U.S. Electric Grid” as a “High Priority Infrastructure Project”
Moving forward, in part, on a campaign promise to adopt an infrastructure plan to “transform America’s crumbling infrastructure,” today President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects.”
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New Administration’s “America First Energy Plan” Touts Fossil Energy Production; Omits Plans for Electricity Sector
As expected, with the inauguration of President Trump all Obama Administration content on the White House website has been replaced with content of the new Administration. The new content includes “An America First Energy Plan”, the entire focus of which is national security and job creation benefits of the…
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