What is NERC CIP?

In 2022, electricity consumption in the United States totaled 4,050 terawatt hours.
A terawatt is a unit of power equal to one trillion watts.
It’s no surprise that most of our world today relies on energy.
What would we do in the event of a blackout? For a few hours…days…or weeks? civilization as we know it would be in shambles!
Let’s go back to November 9, 1965, at 5:26 p.m. to be exact .
A power failure near Niagara Falls caused a blackout leaving many of the Northeastern states and portions of Canada in darkness for 14 hours!
As a result, NERC was formed to ensure the reliability and security of the North American bulk power system.
A bulk power system is any electrical device with terminals that may be connected to other electrical devices, such as a generator, transformer, circuit breaker, bus section, or transmission line.
NERC is short for The North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
It’s a non-profit regulatory agency headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
The energy policy act granted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC government agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity.) jurisdiction over reliability standards.
About a year later FERC certified NERC as the ERO, The Electronic Return Originator, responsible for developing and enforcing mandatory electric reliability standards under the Commission’s oversight in North America.
NERC develops and enforces standards for the operation, planning, and security of the electric grid to protect against widespread outages, kinda like the one I just talked about. FERC reviews, approves, and also enforces the standards developed. They work together to reduce risks to the reliability and security of bulk power systems.
NERC also monitors the performance and compliance of entities responsible for operating and maintaining the grid, this includes the area of security.
The (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards are mandatory security regulations hand crafted to protect the Bulk Electric System (BES) from cyber threats.
WHO MUST FOLLOW NERC CIP STANDARDS? The standards are REQUIRED for all operations that have access to bulk power systems within the United States, this includes electric utilities, independent system operators, and regional transmission organizations.
FERC has the authority to impose penalties for those that are in non-compliance with NERC CIP standards.
As I said before The NERC CIP standards ensure the reliability and security of the North American power grid. It’s quite serious. A cyberattack on bulk power systems could result in widespread power outages, economic disruption, and even death.
There is a risk of fines if entities fail to comply. Most fines fall in the five-figure range. Serious violations can cost millions of dollars and bad publicity which can create management challenges with stakeholders, shareholders, and regulators.
Some benefits of being NERC CIP Compliant are a reduced risk to cyber attacks, a quick response time if an attack occurs, an avoidance of heavy fines and regulatory compliance, and an increase of customer loyalty.
►Reach out to Etactics @ www.etactics.com​
►Subscribe: rb.gy/pso1fq​ to learn more tips and tricks in healthcare, health IT, and cybersecurity.
►Find us on LinkedIn: / etactics-inc
►Find us on Facebook: / ​
#NERC #CIP #NERCCIP

[@adamkstevens]

Excellent job explaining NERC CIP compliance for energy utilities. The sense of history and urgency, especially with the 1965 blackout, really drove home the importance of 'never again' standards and keeping our power grid secure. Thanks for making such a crucial topic clear and engaging!
Also, saying 'FERK' makes me giggle too.

[@madnanqamar823]

Thank you