The GridWise Alliance strongly supports the final passage of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, which is included in the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018, and which now has passed Congress on a bicameral, bipartisan basis.
GridWise’s CEO, Steven Hauser, stated “this action by Congress represents substantial progress on a very important issue for the energy industry.”
Previous disaster relief law generally required replacing damaged or destroyed infrastructure with substantially similar infrastructure, in most cases.
“The Disaster Recovery Reform language that Congress has just passed will enable a major change in this law to allow for more resilient rebuilding of electric grid infrastructure going forward. This legislative change is vitally important to protect against and mitigate potential destruction from future disasters,” GridWise’s CEO, Steve Hauser, further stated.
“GridWise commends the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and the House and Senate Leadership for moving this critically-important legislation through the legislative process to enhance the future resilience of critical electric system infrastructure.” Mr. Hauser stated. GridWise has been working diligently since Superstorm Sandy in 2012 to help advance policies to make the electric system more resilient to natural and human-caused threats.
“This legislation helps achieve this goal of protecting critical grid infrastructure going forward,” Mr. Hauser continued. “This new law will help relevant electric system infrastructure to be rebuilt, reinstalled, or redesigned in a manner that increases system resilience, reliability, and security to mitigate future power outages, continue delivery of vital services, and maintain the flow of power to facilities critical to public health, safety and welfare. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress on this important issue.”
The GridWise Alliance (GridWise) consists of a unique cross-section of members, including electric utilities, information and communications technology equipment and service providers, national laboratories, academic institutions, Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and Independent System Operators (ISOs), and more.1 For more information about the GridWise Alliance, please visit: http://www.gridwise.org.
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1 GridWise’s RTO/ISO, Power Authority, and National Laboratory members do not participate in advocacy activities. Thus, this statement does not represent any position taken on this issue by these GridWise members.