Securing America’s Energy Infrastructure: Addressing Cyber and Physical Threats to the Grid

House Energy and Commerce Committee
   Energy Subcommittee
2141 Rayburn

12/02/2025 at 10:30AM

The Subcommittee on Energy has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, December 2, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. (ET) in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “Securing America’s Energy Infrastructure: Addressing Cyber and Physical Threats to the Grid.” The hearing will review how electric utilities and other energy entities, in coordination with the federal government, prepare and respond to cyber and physical threats to the electric grid, as well as threats to other critical energy infrastructure.

Hearing memo

Witnesses:

  • Michael Ball, CEO of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center and Senior Vice President, North American Electric Reliability Corporation
  • Sharla Artz, Security and Resilience Policy Area Vice President at Xcel Energy, on behalf of Edison Electric Institute
  • Tim Lindahl, President & CEO of Kenergy, on behalf of National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
  • Zach Tudor, Associate Laboratory Director, National & Homeland Security, Idaho
  • Harry Krejsa, Director of Studies for the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology

Artz: “The same surge capacity that rushes to companies in need during hurricanes, winter storms, and wildfires stands ready to assist and share resources in the face of a potential cyber incident. . . . The Department of Energy also hosts regionally-based exercises focused on response to natural and man-made threats, such as Liberty Eclipse and Clear Path. Next year, the American Gas Association will host the biennial Natural Gas Exercise, an exercise in which operators test and validate response/recovery plans for cybersecurity and physical security threats that stress gas control and corporate business continuity.”

Lindahl: “Co-ops apply a risk-based, layered defense strategy to protect critical assets, including power plants, transmission infrastructure that carries electricity long distances, and substations and distribution lines that provide electricity to local users. This approach is designed to ensure protection against all hazards – severe storms, vandalism, physical, and cyber incidents.”