Description:
H.R. 360 would direct the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a voluntary program to test the cybersecurity of products and technologies intended for use in the nation’s bulk power system. The bulk power system comprises the facilities and control systems necessary for operating an interconnected energy transmission network and the electric energy needed from generation facilities to maintain transmission system reliability. In the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2020, DOE requested $15 million to operate a similar program. On that basis, and accounting for anticipated inflation and historical spending patterns for similar programs, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 360 would cost $56 million over the 2020-2024 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. The costs of the legislation (detailed in Table 1) fall within budget function 270 (energy). H.R. 360 would impose an intergovernmental mandate, as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), on state, local, and tribal governments. The bill would preempt state and local laws that could otherwise cause governmental agencies participating in the Cyber Sense program to disclose information about their activities, such as the sharing of cybersecurity information. Although the preemption would limit the application of state and local laws, CBO estimates that it would impose no duty on state or local governments that would result in additional spending or a loss of revenues. H.R. 360 contains no private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.
