Biden-Harris Administration Announces New National Security Memorandum to Strengthen U.S. Department of Energy’s Role in Ensuring Security and Resilience Across America’s Energy Sector

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) applauds the release of National Security Memorandum 22 (NSM-22) on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience, which strengthens the role of Sector Risk Management Agencies (SRMAs), including DOE, to lead risk management in partnership with energy asset owners and operators, state, local, Tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners, international partners, manufacturers, academia, and others. The NSM will help ensure U.S. critical infrastructure continues to provide the nation a strong and innovative economy, protect American families, and enhance our collective resilience to disasters before they happen—strengthening the nation for generations to come. 

“We refuse to turn a blind eye to any risks facing our critical infrastructure, and today’s announcement strengthens President Biden’s whole-of-government approach to prepare for and mitigate against emerging threats and hazards to our energy infrastructure,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The actions taken by the Biden-Harris Administration will support federal agencies, the intelligence community, and our stakeholders to be even more empowered to prioritize security as we build a resilient clean energy future.”  

Thanks to the President’s Investing in America agenda, as well as the emergence of new technologies like artificial intelligence, America has a historic opportunity to build for the future. Good investments require taking steps to manage risk, and for our infrastructure, that means building in resilience to all hazards upfront and by design. Through the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced $448 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding – including over 51,000 infrastructure projects – and spurred $825 billion in private sector investment in industries including clean power, biomanufacturing, and clean energy manufacturing.   

Further, the growing impact of climate change, including changes to the frequency and intensity of natural hazards, as well as supply chain shocks and the potential for instability, conflict, or mass displacement, places a strain on the infrastructure that Americans depend upon for their lives and livelihoods. This NSM seeks to fulfill the U.S. government’s sacred obligation to the American people to protect our infrastructure and the prosperity and security of the nation. 

By clarifying the role of the SRMA, the NSM reinforces DOE’s role to address short- and long-term energy challenges facing the nation. As the SRMA, DOE continues to be a federal lead for policy, preparedness, risk analysis, technical assistance, research and development, operational collaboration, and emergency response activities for the U.S. energy sector. Within DOE, the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) will hold primary responsibility for execution of day-to-day SRMA responsibilities. Critical to this mission will be CESER’s continued partnership with the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC), Oil and Natural Gas Coordinating Council (ONG SCC), state energy and emergency officials, and others in the energy sector.  

The NSM encourages the establishment of minimum requirements and accountability mechanisms for the security and resilience of critical infrastructure. DOE will work with energy sector stakeholders and regulators to take stock of existing resilience, security, and reliability requirements and identify gaps that could benefit from new requirements to keep pace with the growing climate, cyber, and physical risks facing the sector. The memorandum also prioritizes operational collaboration models with private sector partners to reduce risk to critical infrastructure, which DOE has underway through a number of efforts, including the Energy Threat Analysis Center (ETAC) pilot.   

To learn more about NSM-22, please click here. For more information on DOE’s efforts to secure and protect America’s energy sector, please click here.