April 9, 2014

Review of Internal Controls for Protecting Non-Public Information at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

In March 2014, the Office of Inspector General initiated a review of internal controls for protecting non-public information at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission).  The review was initiated in response to requests from the Senate Energy Natural Resources Committee and also the Commission regarding an alleged leak of non-public information exposing certain electric grid vulnerabilities, and details surrounding the April 2013 attack on the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Metcalf substation.

Based on our work to date, we have reached a preliminary conclusion that the Commission may not possess adequate controls for identifying and handling certain electric grid-related information that could pose threats to national security.