Hudson Highlights Work to Strengthen Grid Resiliency on Anniversary of Moore County Attack

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-09) released the following statement in recognition of the two-year anniversary of the Moore County grid attack:

"Two years ago, our community suffered a reprehensible attack, leaving 45,000 of Moore County residents without power for days. An attack like this could have devastated our community, and we didn't go without our struggles, but I am so proud of the strength our community showed.

"Since the attack, I have led an ongoing effort to advance legislation and secure funding at the federal level to bolster our grid resilience and strengthen our energy supply chain. While we have been making great progress, this is a complicated problem set that requires our continued focus and attention."

Timeline of Rep. Hudson's Actions to Secure the Energy Grid:

• December 2022: Rep. Hudson toured Duke Energy power substation which was attacked and received a briefing on the recent power outages in Moore County.

• January 2023: Rep. Hudson organized a classified briefing from the FBI for Members of Congress on attacks targeting US electrical infrastructure.

• February 2023: Rep. Hudson urged the Department of Energy to provide fair and prompt consideration of the North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives application to the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Topic Area 2 Grant Competition.

• March 2023: Rep. Hudson cosponsored and voted in favor of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, legislation to lower energy costs for Americans, remove the bureaucratic red tape holding our energy industry back, and unleash America's energy independence.

• May 2023: Rep. Hudson reintroduced the Widening Opportunities to Recapture Key Energy Roles (WORKER) Act, bipartisan legislation that will supercharge America's energy workforce by urging the Department of Energy to award grants to stakeholders prioritizing education and training for energy and manufacturing jobs. The bill would also prioritize educating and training workers from underrepresented groups, including minorities, women, and veterans.

• June 2023: Rep. Hudson introduced the Protecting America's Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act, legislation to repeal the Department of Energy's authority to propose, finalize, implement, administer, or enforce any energy efficiency standard for distribution transformers for the next five years.

• June 2023: Rep. Hudson and members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security held a field hearing in Moore County. At the hearing, the members discussed physical and cybersecurity issues facing the electricity sector, power outage incident response and recovery, and emergency coordination among State and local governments and the electric industry. Watch the field hearing.

• June 2023: Prior to the Moore County field hearing, Rep. Hudson and committee members toured the Duke Energy West End substation, one of two substations in Moore County that was intentionally attacked on the evening of December 3, 2022.

• July 2023: Rep. Hudson joined the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing that addressed the security challenges that currently threaten the electricity sector, and discussed emerging and existing threats to America's electric energy infrastructure.

• September 2023: Hudson's energy grid security legislation H.R. 4167, Protecting America's Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act, was included in the House Energy and Commerce Committee Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee legislative hearing.

• October 2023: Hudson's Protecting America's Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act, passed out of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security.

• October 2023: Hudson secured $1.6 billion in funding to bolster grid security that was included in the final version of H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Actfor Fiscal Year 2024. For an outline of this funding, click here.

• March 2024: Hudson's Protecting America's Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Actpassed out of the full Energy and Commerce Committee.

• May 2024: Hudson's energy grid security amendment was included in H.R. 6192, the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, and was passed by the House. For more details of this amendment, click here.

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