Moore County, NC — Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) and Congressman Richard Hudson (R-NC) delivered opening remarks today at the Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Field Hearing in Moore County, NC, titled “Enhancing America’s Grid Security and Resilience.”

Subcommittee Chair Duncan's remarks as prepared for delivery:

WHY WE MUST SECURE THE OUR GRID

“Let me begin by welcoming everyone to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security’s field hearing, ‘Enhancing America’s Grid Security and Resilience.’

“As the Subcommittee Chairman, I am excited to be here in Moore County, North Carolina with my colleagues, at the invitation of my friend and colleague on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Richard Hudson.

“The Energy and Commerce Committee exercises broad jurisdiction over Federal agencies and issues relating to the nation’s electric grid.

“As part of these responsibilities, we work closely with the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—known as FERC—to ensure that our electric grid, and the utility companies that operate it, are well coordinated and prepared to address all hazards to the electric grid, whether they be severe weather, physical, or cybersecurity threats.

“America’s power grid is the world’s most complex and highly interconnected system in the world.

“The challenge of protecting it is immense and growing, especially as our power mix shifts away from centralized coal and natural gas power plants, to more distributed wind, solar, and battery generation.

“According to the Energy Information Administration, our nation’s power grid consists of more than 7,300 power plants, 160,000 miles of high-voltage power lines, millions of miles of low voltage power lines, and more than 50,000 substations where transformers convert the raw electricity to higher or lower voltages.

“Historically, natural events, especially severe weather, present the greatest risk to system reliability and resilience.”

THE GROWING THREAT OF PHYSICAL AND CYBERATTACKS

“However, we are also facing the growing threat of physical and cyberattacks to our electric grid and other energy infrastructure, like pipelines and electric substations.

“There have been several grid security incidents that have occurred recently that we are examining as part of our oversight responsibilities.

“Within the last year, we have seen electrical transmission substations attacked in Tacoma, WA and here in Moore County.

“Both of these attacks resulted in blackouts that affected tens of thousands of people for multiple days.

“Prior to these incidents, we saw one of the nation’s most critical pipelines, the Colonial Pipeline, suffer a cyberattack that created fuel shortages and price spikes that lasted weeks.

“As Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, we are taking a close look at these incidents to gather lessons-learned and to determine whether Federal laws or regulations should be revised to enhance grid security and resilience.

“We are also gathering the perspectives of the electric industry and state partners, to learn how we can harden our grid, improve situational awareness, and support response efforts.

“With that, I would like to welcome our witnesses and thank them for appearing before us today.

“I look forward to learning more about the substation attack that occurred here in Moore County so I can share lessons learned with the electric utilities and state officials in my home state of South Carolina and with my colleagues back in Washington, D.C.”

Remarks as prepared for delivery from Rep. Hudson, whose district includes Moore County, North Carolina:

THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF A GRID ATTACK

“Welcome to Moore County! It is great to welcome my colleagues to my home here in the beautiful Sandhills.

“I want to thank Chairman Jeff Duncan, our witnesses, and my colleagues for traveling to North Carolina, taking time to see the location of our grid attack, understanding it’s sophistication, and contributing to this important discussion on how we can learn from what happened here about the vulnerability of our energy grid.

“There’s a number of VIPs in the audience.

“I have to single out our sheriff, Ronnie Fields, for your incredible leadership, and in particular the way you stepped and you and your deputies for working with local law enforcement throughout this. Thank you, Sir, for the incredible job you do every single day.

“Also, Senator Tom McInnis, thank you for your leadership on the state level in the State Senate.

“Neal Jackson, our representative, and Ben Moss, they’ve been working on really important legislation. In fact, I think the governor today is signing legislation that you all worked on to increase penalties for attacks like this. I think that’s really important.

“Earlier this morning, we toured the Duke Energy West End substation, one of two substations in Moore County that was intentionally attacked on the evening of December 3rd, leaving my house and 45,000 of my neighbors without power for up to ten days.

“In the aftermath of the attack, our hospital was impacted, threatening medical treatments, schools were shutdown, businesses were affected, stoplights were dark, gas stations were closed, cell signal was impacted, and water couldn’t be heated.

“Our region suffered millions of dollars in damage—and just before the Christmas holiday.

“It really made the hundreds of pounds of room-temperature venison, elk, and duck in my freezer seem insignificant.

“An attack like this could have devastated our community, and we didn’t go without our struggles.”

MOORE COUNTY COMING TOGETHER

“But overall, I am so proud of our resilient response. In the days and weeks that followed, the people here truly showed the best of Moore County, the best of North Carolina, and the best of America.

“Community groups stepped in and ensured our vulnerable neighbors weren’t left without access to critical care and resources.

“Within hours, churches like the First Baptist Churches of Aberdeen and Pinehurst and the Yates Thagard Baptist Church offered shower, laundry, and meal services.

“Harris Teeter offered free ice for medicine and food. Staff and volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club of the Sandhills partnered with our Food Bank to prepare 800 two-day care packages.

“Our Fire and Rescue, Police Department, and library opened their doors for folks to access internet and charge devices.

“And all throughout, I am grateful for the tireless and heroic efforts of Duke Energy and local providers, including Randolph Electric Membership Corporation, Lee Electrical Construction, and Pike Electric who worked tirelessly to replace vital equipment needed to restore service, in addition to charitable contributions to organizations providing necessary resources to our community.

“It was inspiring to see everyone come together in our time of need and I want to reiterate my thanks to all those who assisted recovery efforts.

“I also want to thank our sheriff and local law enforcement for continuing to follow tips and leads to determine who is responsible for December’s attack.”

LISTENING AND ADVOCATING FOR SOLUTIONS

“I share your frustration that we still haven’t found those responsible.

“But in Washington, I have worked with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to coordinate classified member briefings from the FBI on their assessed threat to the grid.

“I will continue to push the FBI to make addressing these attacks a priority and make sure the appropriate information sharing occurs so we can hold those responsible accountable and make sure this never happens again.” 

BRINGING WASHINGTON TO NORTH CAROLINA

“Since this attack occurred, I have been in listening mode.

“I have heard from constituents, grid operators, community developers, and business owners who have concerns with our grid’s security and resilience—all against the backdrop of historic energy costs. I share these concerns.

“That’s why, as I promised in the days following the attack, I have brought Washington to North Carolina today.

“I want to show my colleagues not just the numbers and facts of grid security and resilience, but the people personally affected and their experiences.

“Everyone needs to know the full impact of this kind of attack and the urgent need to address vulnerabilities this exposes in our grid.

“There are 45,000 stories of why Moore County—and our nation—need greater grid resilience.

“Now, we have the opportunity to hear from experts in the industry and those who call North Carolina home on the current state of our grid security, and how we move forward from these attacks.

“My colleagues and I welcome these testimonies to help do our jobs effectively.

“And I can guarantee when we head back to Washington, our critical energy transmission infrastructure and what vulnerabilities exist will be at the forefront of our conversations.

“So, I thank my colleagues and thank our witnesses for being here today and look forward to working together on this critical issue.”