Trump Administration Seeks to Secure Grid from Foreign Risk

Energy policy and regulatory attorney Willie Phillips was quoted in a Bloomberg Law article examining the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) efforts to strengthen protections for the nation's bulk power system against foreign threats. The article discussed the department's request for information following a recent executive order declaring a national emergency to secure the electric grid as growing electricity demand from data centers, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced manufacturing and defense production places greater attention on grid reliability and supply chain resilience. Industry stakeholders praised the initiative as a collaborative effort between government and the energy sector. Willie, the former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), underscored the importance of these initiatives.

"The security of the grid has never been more important than right now," he said. "DOE is right to take a hard look at specifically the security of our supply chain for our electric grid."

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Willie also co-authored a Holland & Knight alert on the executive order that precipitated the DOE's request for information.