Washington (November 18, 2021) — On November 16-17, participants representing more than 700 organizations from across the electric power industry and federal and state governments participated in GridEx VI, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC’s) biennial energy grid security and incident response exercise.

The two-day exercise was designed to test cyber and physical security incident response protocols and coordination among industry and government stakeholders from the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

“Protecting the energy grid from all hazards is a top priority for EEI and our member companies, and it is a shared responsibility between the entire electric power industry and our government partners,” said Edison Electric Institute (EEI) President Tom Kuhn. “By participating in NERC's GridEx series, we are able to test both our individual and our collective security, response, and crisis communications plans against possible energy grid threats. It also allows us to strengthen our coordination through our time-tested partnership, the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC), to ensure that we stay connected should a real-world emergency occur.”

The CEO-led ESCC serves as the principal liaison between leadership in the federal government and in the electric power industry, with the mission of coordinating efforts to prepare for national-level incidents or threats to critical infrastructure. The ESCC also facilitates and supports activities and initiatives designed to enhance the reliability and resilience of the energy grid, including the establishment of the Cyber Mutual Assistance program, which brings together experts to support response efforts to cyber-attacks against the energy grid of North America.

Following the completion of GridEx VI, NERC will produce an after-action report outlining the newly identified opportunities for industry and government stakeholders to enhance our collective security posture.