Department of Energy Launches $70M Fund to Protect Rural Utilities Against Cyberthreats

The Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response has announced $70 million in available DOE funding for projects enhancing the cybersecurity of electric cooperatives and municipal and small investors’ utilities.

A CESER press release on Thursday noted that the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the funding available to help create electric utilities with better capabilities to counter cybersecurity threats.

CESER will manage the funding under the Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Program’s Advanced Cybersecurity Technology. Its coverage includes investments in solutions and training to improve electric utilities’ cybersecurity. Current peer-to-peer and not-for-profit cyber technical assistance programs on electric utilities can also apply for DOE funding, CESER said. Other potential fund recipients are projects that will widen cybersecurity products and services available to small power grids, it added.

According to Infrastructure Undersecretary David Crane, the “frequency and sophistication of cyberthreats” makes it necessary to equip electric utilities in rural communities with the tools and training to deliver reliable and secure energy, CESER said.