NEWS: FERC has approved NERC’s push for tighter grid security.

Batten down the hatches: In response to a 2025 FERC order, NERC’s CIP-015-2 standard beefs up protection for weak points that can be exploited by hackers (including authentication servers, card access systems, and visitor management systems). “This expansion isn’t arbitrary,” wrote cybersecurity expert Kristine Martz. “It addresses a critical security gap that adversaries have exploited.”

Also on FERC’s desk: The agency has OK’d MISO’s cost recovery plan for new transmission projects…in PJM. Huh? MISO is planning a 765-kV “backbone” across its Midwest footprint, which will dip into PJM territory. This led industry groups to argue that MISO’s competitive bidding rules should cover the new lines in PJM…but FERC nixed the idea (ComEd and Duke Ohio will do the building).