Trump’s Order to Secure Power System Met with Favor and Uncertainty in the Utility Industry
On May 1st, 2020, Trump signed an executive order that established regulations of foreign-made equipment used in the United States bulk-power system. The order stated that Energy Secretary Dan Bouillotte would assemble a task force to oversee current policies that identify threats to securities and establish risk-management procedures to inform future procurement.
The order will have an impact on the future of power and electrical equipment purchases and possibly already installed and commissioned components at the generation and transmission level. “This is much broader; it reaches across the entire industry, not just the telecommunication infrastructure,” said Jason Johns, an energy market attorney with Stoel Rives, LLP. “At the same time, it is particularly broad and imprecise in terms of its application.’
The utility sector looks uncertain about how they will react to Trump’s order. It’s not clear how the mandate to secure the bulk power system from foreign cybersecurity attacks will affect the industry’s current infrastructure.
Read more about Trump’s secure power system order here.
