NCSL Press Release

NCSL News graphic

June 2, 2003

Nation's Energy Systems Need Plans to Respond to Attacks, Accidents and Disasters

DENVER -- State legislatures should take important steps to protect state power sources and the transmission of energy from attacks, accidents or natural disasters, according to a new set of national recommendations released by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Of special concern is to ensure that states have a coordinated plan, since different levels of government, various state agencies and regulated industries are potentially involved in an emergency situation.

The National Conference of State Legislatures said while state legislatures may not be able to prevent an attack or disruption to an energy system, they can "make response and recovery as seamless as possible." Protecting nuclear facilities, power plants, transmission lines, natural gas storage facilities and pipelines, refineries, telecommunications systems and computer security are key areas legislators should focus on, say the recommendations of a new NCSL publication entitled, "Energy Security."

In addition to giving state utility commissions the ability to coordinate emergency plans, the new publication urges state legislatures to:

seek information and education about energy systems and energy security
identify opportunities for energy efficiency and encourage demand response programs
analyze statutes governing the state energy office to make sure they meet state needs and integrate with the state homeland security office
study the state's energy system and determine if enough diverse and renewable sources are being used
review freedom of information laws that balances the need for open meetings and the government's own need to know about security threats
ensure that the energy industries and state agencies have conducted vulnerability studies
update statutes regarding emergency response
examine legislation regarding unfair pricing during emergencies.

The report, written by NCSL's Matthew H. Brown, Christie Rewey and Troy Gagliano, also provides background on energy security and includes a discussion of the vulnerabilities in the energy system. As the authors note, "The nation's energy system is a complex, interconnected web in which a disruption in one part of the infrastructure can easily cause disruption elsewhere in the system."

Copies of the report are available through NCSL. While copies to approved media are complimentary, copies of the publication are for sale by contacting NCSL at 303-364-7700 or sending an e-mail message to books@ncsl.org.

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