Commissioner Norris Statement

April 18, 2013
Commissioner John R. Norris

Docket No. RM13-5-000
Item No. E-7

Statement of Commissioner John R. Norris on
CIP Reliability Standards
“As I vote on the CIP Version 5 notice of proposed rulemaking, I am mindful of the hard work of NERC, industry, and
Commission staff in bringing these reliability standards before the Commission today. This is a major effort and I am
cognizant of the tremendous responsibility that mandatory standards place on industry to help ensure that the
country’s electric grid is protected from cyber attack. We are essentially requiring private industry to support a
national defense effort by contributing its time and money to protect the cyber security of the electric grid.
“To accomplish this massive undertaking, we must provide industry with the necessary tools. Frontline workers who
will actually implement cyber security standards must have clearly defined requirements to help protect the grid from
cyber attack. Right now, I am focused on implementation rather than compliance. While I believe that compliance
with Reliability Standards is crucial, I also believe that, on whole, industry fundamentally wants to do the right thing.
We must do everything possible to help industry succeed. CIP Version 5 will advance those aims but this will be an
ongoing, evolving process because cyber threats are constantly evolving. The Commission, NERC, and industry must
continue our efforts to address this threat.
“Thank you to industry, NERC, and FERC staff for your work on this important rulemaking.”