mr. mcclelland? >> sorry, it's the same. >> the white house doesn't talk to you all any more than it talks to us, right? we'll find out. >> may i have additional time to ask another question? >> without objection, i'll give 2000 additional minutes. >> thank you very much. this is a serious threat to our country. we know al qaeda and other countries are targeting us. there are many ph.d.s targeting us. we know there were those nine in my district plotting to hijack those two planes. they were well-educated people. very smt. they tried to find the aperture and they found it in the aviation system. they are very technically sophisticated people. that's the one thing we did learn about al qaeda. that's why i have such a passion for this issue. back in 2006, the north american elecic reliability corporation proposed some grid security standards that seemed to be fairly limited. one of them even allows utilities to decide for themselves which of their assets are critical, and thus, suect to the standards i

mr. mcclelland, you're recognized for a 5-minute opening statement. >> thank you. mr. chairman and members of the committee, thank you for the privilege to appear before you today to discuss the security of the power grid. my name is joe mcclelland, and i'm the director of the office of electric reliability at the federal regulatory commission. i'm here today as a commissioned staff witness and my remarks do not necessarily represent the views of the commission or any individual commissioner. in the energy policy act of 2005, congress entrusted the commission with a major new responsibility to oversee mandatory enforceable reliability and cybersecurity standards for the nation bulk care system. this authority in section 215 of the federal power act. it is important to note that the authority under section 215 is under the quote bulk power system end quote which clues alaska and hawaii, transmission facilities in certain large cities such as new york as well as local distribution systems. under section 215, ferc cannot author or modify reliability or cybersecurity standa

mr. mcclelland? >> sorry, it's the same. >> the white house doesn't talk to you all any more than it talks to us, right? we'll find out. >> may i have additional time to ask another question? >> without objection, i'll give 2000 additional minutes. >> thank you very much. this is a serious threat to our country. we know al qaeda and other countries are targeting us. there are many ph.d.s targeting us. we know there were those nine in my district plotting to hijack those two planes. they were well-educated people. very smart. they tried to find the aperture and they found it in the aviation system. they are very technically sophisticated people. that's the one thing we did learn about al qaeda. that's why i have such a passion for this issue. back in 2006, the north american electric reliability corporation proposed some grid security standards that seemed to be fairly limited. one of them even allows utilities to decide for themselves which of their assets are critical, and thus, subject to the stand

mr. mcclelland, i appreciate it. in the shield act versus the grid act on ferc authority, do you feel you need additional level of authority to respond to a national security threat? can you be more specific in that? on the flip side of that additial authority is how we balance that with state regulatory entities? >> the shield act provides the commission with a proviso if it finds the nerc standard insufficient, it can offer a measure to put into place to address a security vulnerability. the commission currently under the 15 process cannot author or modify reliability standards. we can provide input, but we cannot author or modify. i feel it's important that the coission be given that direct authority to be able to order measures to be put into place to write those measures, and to direct they be put into place to address vulnerabilities to the power system or threats. >> do you see working with the state regulatory issues? >> i think it's very important the commission cooperate with the electric reliability organi

mr. joseph mcclelland, who is the director of office of electricity -- electric reliability at ferc. so welcome to the hearing and thank you all for taking time to be with us and so give us your expertise and thoughts on this issue. so at this time, ms. hoffman, i will recognize you for a 5-minute opening statement. and i would just point out that there's little devices on the top of the table that has the red, green and yellow light, and when it turns he red, we would like maybe having you thinking about coming to an end but we won't hold you strictly to that. ms. hoffman, you're recognized for five minutes. >> good afternoon, mr. chairman, members of the committee, i would like to extend my thanks to the chairman and esteemed members of the committee for inviting me here today to discuss cybersecurity issues facing the electric industry as well as potential legislation intended to strengthen protection of the bulk power system and the electric infrastructure. ensuring a resilient electric grid is particularly important since it is arguably the most complex and critical infrastructu