With the emergence of distributed energy resources, the two-way flow of data and other new technologies, utilities are becoming more efficient and reliable. And as the grid evolves, so do the roles of electric cooperatives in ensuring they are protecting their assets, the flow of power to their communities and employee and member data. NRECA works with government agencies, legislatures and industry groups to ensure policies, laws and regulations reflect the needs of the electric cooperatives throughout these efforts.
NRECA also offers resources and training opportunities specifically designed to provide cooperatives with tools they can use to improve their cybersecurity posture. Through our federally-funded cybersecurity research and partnerships with public and private stakeholders, NRECA creates products and services that meet the unique needs of our members and help them prepare for existing and potential threats to the reliability and security of their cooperative.
Tool and Resources
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The RC3 program offers tools and resources, like the
RC3 Self-Assessment Toolkit and
guidebooks, for improving cybersecurity capabilities of electric cooperatives, as well as providing collaboration, education, and training opportunities.
The
Cybersecurity Information Sharing advisory series explains what information sharing is, how to better do it, and why it is important.
Essence is a diagnostic tool which accelerates the detection of malicious cyberthreats on systems from months to seconds.
NRECA and its member cooperatives are developing a Threat Analysis Center (TAC) to help electric co-ops detect potential hacks in their operating systems and alert federal agencies in real time to credible threats.
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Education
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Federal Funding
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Below are just a few of the federal funding opportunities available to electric cooperatives. This list will be updated as more opportunities are made available.
This
fact sheet provides an overview of the funding opportunities available in the bipartisan infrastructure legislation. More information can be found on our Infrastructure Resource Hub.
The
100-Day Program resulted from a cooperative agreement between NRECA and the DOE, operated through National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), to help rural electric cooperatives deploy cyber and cyber-physical solutions.
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Research and Development Activities
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NRECA has several research projects underway in cybersecurity, including:
Software Bill of Materials (SBOM): NRECA has initiated a
pilot project with member co-ops to study the application of SBOM for electric co-ops and develop an approach that benefits co-ops of all sizes.
Analytics: NRECA and its member coops are engaged in analytical research to address cybersecurity issues. Current work is focused on inverter cybersecurity and big data methods for identifying and reporting cyberattacks.
VARS: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, with the support of NRECA is leading the DOE cybersecurity research project Verification and Validation Assuring Reliability and Security (VARS). VARS will be an online, publicly available framework that will assist in the calculation of risk metrics of products and vendors.
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Advocacy and Partnerships
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This
fact sheet outlines electric cooperative priorities for protecting the nation's electric power grid, key government and industry partnerships, current regulatory environment and NRECA positions on cyber and physical security issues.
CEO-led
Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) serves as the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power industry on national-level disasters or threats to critical infrastructure. The ESCC includes CEOs and executives from electric companies, public power utilities, and rural electric cooperatives, as well as their trade association leaders, who represent all segments of the industry.
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Legal Resources
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More Resources
All of these cybersecurity resources and more are available on our
Cybersecurity page. Peruse the featured resources or use the filters on the left side of the page to find the resource most relevant to you.
Stay up to date on cybersecurity developments impacting electric co-ops by receiving NRECA's
Business & Technology Update bi-monthly newsletter.
