"Groups Protest DOE Rule To Classify Critical Electric Facilities"

"A trio of public interest groups have lodged a protest against a proposed Department of Energy rule to designate critical electric infrastructure.

The rule proposed in October laid out how DOE would employ its authority to designate critical electric infrastructure under the Federal Power Act.

It effectively would allow unclassified filings from U.S. utilities to earn "pre-designation" as "Critical Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII)," immediately shielding the material on power plants and transmission facilities from public view and exempting it from disclosure under federal freedom-of-information laws (Energywire, Oct. 30, 2018)."

Rod Kuckro reports for EnergyWire January 3, 2019.