Bulk Power Equipment

Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience (CISR) Month focuses on the vital role our critical infrastructure plays in keeping our communities safe, secure, and prosperous. We rely on these systems for business, communication, and public health. As cyber and physical systems have converged, our infrastructure has grown in complexity and connectivity. These new interactions allow threats to ripple across sectors and create larger disruptions. Simultaneously, infrastructure threats, whether they are man-made, technological, or natural, are more complex and diverse than at any point in history.

The Office of Electricity (OE) is focused on increasing the resiliency and reliability of critical energy infrastructure – the critical systems and assets of the bulk-power system. The disruption or destruction of these critical assets can negatively affect national and economic security, public health, safety, or a combination of all. Our goal is to enhance resilience through preparedness and to promote investment in our Nation’s infrastructure.

In pursuit of our mission, OE focuses on several key priorities:

  • North American Energy Resilience Model (NAERM): Cyber and physical threats to our energy infrastructure continue to grow and evolve. In response, OE is developing the NAERM, a comprehensive resilience modeling system for the North American energy sector and its associated infrastructure. The NAERM will enable the identification of threats to energy infrastructure and provide enhanced situational awareness to minimize the impact of threats while increasing system resilience.
  • Defense Critical Electric Infrastructure (DCEI): OE places special emphasis on mitigating threats against DCEI to help assure the U.S. government’s ability to defend our country, empower military forces, and maintain essential civilian functions during crises. Our team works across the U.S. government, industry, and the private sector to improve and prioritize information-sharing, collaboration, and investments to counter this evolving and expanding national challenge.
  • Megawatt Scale Grid Storage: Storage is a top priority for increasing resilience. OE is pursuing megawatt scale storage capable of supporting frequency regulation, ramping, and energy management for bulk and distribution power systems.
  • Revolutionize Sensing Technology Utilization: OE is pursuing high-fidelity, low-cost sensing technology for predictive and correlation modeling for electricity. Improved sensing technology will provide increased observability of electric infrastructure which will help to mitigate threats.

Keeping citizens and America's critical infrastructure safe requires collaboration between the federal government, the private sector, local governments (state, local, tribal, and territorial), international partners, and the public. This CISR Month, we’re proud to work with all these parties to develop a mix of technology and policy solutions while leading the Department’s efforts to ensure the nation’s most critical energy infrastructure is secure and able to recover rapidly from disruptions.