U.S. President Trump Signs Executive Order Securing the United States Bulk-Power System
Posted on 05/01/2020
U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) called “Securing the United States Bulk-Power System,” which gives the U.S. Secretary of Energy the ability to work with the Cabinet and energy industry for ways to secure America’s bulk-power system (BPS). A bulk power system is a large interconnected electrical system made up of generation and transmission facilities and their control systems. Every year the U.S. federal government spends money on a wide range of bulk power system components and government procurement rules often result in contracts being awarded to the lowest-cost bids, which can present a vulnerability. The EO prohibits federal agencies and U.S. persons from acquiring, transferring, or installing BPS equipment in which any foreign country or foreign national has any interest and the transaction poses an unacceptable risk to national security or the security and safety of American citizens. Evolving threats facing our critical infrastructure have only served to highlight the supply chain risks faced by all sectors, including energy, and the need to ensure the availability of secure components from American companies and other trusted sources.
Accordingly, under this Executive Order, the U.S. Secretary of Energy is authorized to do the following:
1. Establish and publish criteria for recognizing particular equipment and vendors as “pre-qualified” (pre-qualified vendor list).
2. Identify any now-prohibited equipment already in use, allowing the government to develop strategies and work with asset owners to identify, isolate, monitor, and replace this equipment as appropriate.
According to the press release, “Today, President Trump demonstrated bold leadership to protect America’s bulk-power system and ensure the safety and prosperity of all Americans,” said U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Brouillette. “It is imperative the bulk-power system be secured against exploitation and attacks by foreign threats. This Executive Order will greatly diminish the ability of foreign adversaries to target our critical electric infrastructure.”
Task Force
Last, there is a task force led by Secretary Brouillette will develop energy infrastructure procurement policies to ensure U.S. security considerations are fully integrated into government energy security and cybersecurity policymaking. The task force will consult with the energy industry through the Electricity and Natural Gas Subsector Coordinating Councils to further its efforts on securing the BPS.
Tougher China Export Rules – Bureau of Industry and Security
On another note, on April 28, 2020, the U.S. Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry and Security published two final rules and a proposed rule amending the Export Administration Regulations that will further restrict and regulate transactions involving a number of countries, impacting China, Russia, and Venezuela in particular. There is a rule change that is expanding the military end user/user controls to cover a potentially far greater number of entities and activities in all three countries, including China. Another change includes the excising of the License Exception Civil End Users (CIV), which permits exports, reexports, or in-country transfers of items controlled for national security reasons to CIV in China, Russia, Venezuela, and other countries.
