(FERC: Washington) -- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently approved eight new mandatory critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability standards to protect the United States’ bulk power system against potential disruptions from cyber security breaches.

These reliability standards were developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which FERC has designated as the electric reliability organization (ERO).

“Today we achieve a milestone by adopting the first mandatory and enforceable reliability standards that address cyber security concerns on the bulk power system in the United States,” says FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher. “The electric industry now can move on to the implementation of the standards in conjunction with improvement of these standards in order to increase the security and reliability of the bulk power system.”

The final rule also directs the ERO to develop modifications to these reliability standards, via its reliability standards development process, and then submit them to FERC for approval. The modifications directed for development concern various oversight and technical issues pertaining to cyber protections.

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