The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, led by Chairman Bob Latta (OH-05), held a markup session for five bills aimed at strengthening the security of the nation's energy infrastructure.
“Today the Energy Subcommittee marked up five bills that will update and enhance programs to help ensure the physical and cyber security of our nation’s energy infrastructure, including our electric grid,” said Chairman Latta. “These bills, two of which we have moved through the Committee in past Congresses with strong bipartisan support, also strengthen the Department of Energy’s ability to carry out its energy emergency functions.”
All five bills were forwarded to the Full Committee by voice vote. The legislation includes H.R. 7258, the Energy Emergency Leadership Act; H.R. 7266, Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act; H.R. 7257, Securing Community Upgrades for a Resilient Grid (SECURE Grid) Act; H.R. 7272, Pipeline Cybersecurity Preparedness Act; and H.R. 7305, Energy Threat Analysis Center Act of 2026.
During the session, Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01) spoke about H.R. 7266: “Cyber-attacks targeting critical infrastructure have become more sophisticated and frequent. This bill ensures that rural electric cooperatives and small utilities have access to advanced cybersecurity tools, technical assistance, and grant funding to protect, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber threats. In Iowa’s First District, rural electric cooperatives serve ratepayers across our 20 counties. These cooperatives faced the same sophisticated cyber threats as major metropolitan systems but often lack the resources to defend against them. This bill ensures our local utilities have the tools they need to protect the grid that powers our homes, farms, and small businesses.”
Congressman Randy Weber (TX-14) addressed H.R. 7272: “H.R. 7272 would improve how the Department of Energy works with others to ensure the security and resilience of pipelines, as well as LNG facilities that our energy sector depends upon for the reliable supply of fuels and electricity. This legislation focuses on the Department of Energy’s vast technical capabilities to develop a program that improves the coordination and technical support needed to ensure timely, efficient, and effective work to secure our energy systems and respond to disruptions.”
On H.R. 7305, Congressman Gabe Evans (CO-08) stated: “It’s essential that we reauthorize ETAC. Chinese Communist Party-backed hacker groups like Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon have already embedded themselves in networks within critical infrastructure, and they’re operating at times undetected. Small towns and rural areas quite often don’t have the resources and the infrastructure to prevent attacks like this and are left with massive disruptions and costs when an attack occurs. These hackers are lying in wait, ready to disrupt key energy systems that are crucial to daily life, including domestic production and military readiness. The preventative work that ETAC does protects communities and our national security from attacks like these.”
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is responsible for legislative oversight in areas such as energy policy—covering issues related to physical infrastructure protection—and has played a role in shaping policy on matters ranging from innovation in energy technology to broadband expansion (official website). As one of Congress's oldest standing committees established in 1795 (official website), it oversees federal agencies such as the Department of Energy while working on bipartisan efforts related to public health policies (official website).
