The bill, "Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act," proposes a grant and technical assistance program to enhance cybersecurity for rural and municipal electric utilities. It defines advanced cybersecurity technology, bulk-power system, cybersecurity threat, and defense critical electric infrastructure. The program aims to deploy advanced cybersecurity technologies and increase participation in threat information sharing programs. It emphasizes providing technical assistance and funding, with priority given to entities with limited cybersecurity resources, assets critical to the power system's reliability, and defense critical electric infrastructure. The bill also protects shared information from disclosure and authorizes appropriations of $250,000,000 for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act
This bill reauthorizes through FY2030 a program that provides cybersecurity-related assistance and funding to rural electric cooperatives and municipal or small, investor-owned electric utilities. The bill also revises methods of awarding support and expands protections for information shared under the program.
This program, known as the Rural and Municipal Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program, is administered by the Department of Energy (DOE). Current law requires DOE to provide technical assistance and funding under the program on a competitive basis; under the bill, assistance and funding may be provided on a competitive or noncompetitive basis.
Current law also requires DOE to prioritize providing technical assistance and funding to certain entities, including entities that own defense critical electric infrastructure. The bill specifies that DOE must also prioritize entities that operate such infrastructure. (Defense critical electric infrastructure is electric infrastructure that (1) is located in the contiguous United States, and (2) serves a designated critical defense facility but is not owned or operated by the owner or operator of the critical facility.)
Finally, the bill expands an existing protection against disclosure to cover all information shared under the program by or with the federal government or a state, tribal, or local government. This provision protects against disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and other state, tribal, or local disclosure laws.
