Did You Know? CESER Programs Support a Clean, Secure Digital Energy Ecosystem

The Biden-Harris Administration recently released a fact sheet “Biden-Harris Administration Announces Priorities for Enhancing the Digital Ecosystem to Support a Secure Energy Future,” outlining critical technologies and programs that underpin the largest clean energy investment in history.

Many in the energy sector – including DOE CESER and its partners at the federal, state, local, tribal and territorial levels of government and in the private sector – have been working together to bring clean energy technology solutions from ideas to investments in sustainable jobs and secure critical infrastructure. The fact sheet highlights collaborative efforts which are focused on five cyber-enabled technologies that are key to the near-term energy transition: 

• Batteries & Battery Management Systems,
• Inverter Controls & Power Conversion Equipment,
• Distributed Control Systems,
• Building Energy Management Systems, and
• Electric Vehicles (EVs) & Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE).

CESER and its energy sector partners are supporting these priorities together by: building a strategically aligned stakeholder community; developing nimble standards and regulations; producing cutting-edge research and development; supporting swift and resilient deployment; managing risk to relevant supply chains; building workforce capability; and mitigating systemic risk across the energy sector. 

• Did You Know?  CESER promotes secure by design implementation through its Cyber-Informed Engineering program. CESER and its National Lab partners have developed resources to support Secure by Design Principles, including a National Cyber-Informed Engineering Strategy. Learn more…

The Administration has also recognized critical support areas that are necessary to these five technologies: “Cultivate a strategically aligned stakeholder community, develop nimble standards and regulations, produce cutting-edge research and development, support swift and resilient deployment, manage risk to relevant supply chains, build workforce capacity, and mitigate systemic risk.”

• Did You Know? CESER cultivates a strategically aligned stakeholder community through the Energy Threat Analysis Center (ETAC). ETAC advances operational collaboration between government and private sector partners to mitigate cyber threats to the energy ecosystem. The need and opportunity for ETAC has been broadly recognized by Congress and the Executive Branch and receives funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021. Learn more…
   
• Did You Know? CESER develops nimble standards and regulations through Cybersecurity Baselines for Distribution and Distributed Energy Resources. DOE/CESER plans to release implementation guidance for states, distribution utilities and DER operators and aggregators who choose to adopt the Cybersecurity Baselines for Distribution and Distributed Energy Resources to mitigate cybersecurity risk and enhance grid security. Learn more…
   
• Did You Know? CESER manages risk to relevant supply chains through cybersecurity supply chain principles. Supply Chain Cybersecurity Principles, announced at the recent G7 meetings, will help prioritize security and resilience within the sector and provide a concise set of principles that the energy industry can use to guide and validate cybersecurity decisions. Learn more…
   
• Did You Know? CESER builds workforce capacity, and mitigates systemic risk through training, workforce development, and exercises. A noteworthy example is the Operational Technology Defender Fellowship, which offers middle- and senior-level OT security managers in the U.S. energy sector an opportunity to more fully understand federal cyber strategies and tactics. Learn more…

CESER also runs regular exercises like Liberty Eclipse, an annual, full-scale cybersecurity preparedness exercise that brings together federal partners, and operational technology (OT) and cybersecurity experts from the energy sector to validate the security of their cyber defense systems, plans, policies, and procedures, in a scaled environment. Learn more…