Technical Talk with RF

Event Information

Join link: https://reliabilityfirst.webex.com/reliabilityfirst/j.php?MTID=md1f4c01d17c26d446a7e2d4dce4ed8cf  

Meeting number: 2312 803 7124 

Meeting password: 0123456 (0123456 when dialing from a phone or video system) 

Join by phone: 1-650-479-3207 Call-in toll number (US/Canada) 

Access code: 231 280 37124 

Please join us on Slido.com using #TechTalkRF as the event code. 

Agenda 

GridEx VIII preview

Jesse Sythe, GridEx Program Manager, E-ISAC

Jesse Sythe will preview what’s to come this year at GridEx VIII, which will be held Nov. 18-19, 2025. Hosted every two years by the E-ISAC, this is the largest grid security exercise in North America, offering E-ISAC member and partner organizations a forum in which to practice how they would respond to and recover from coordinated cyber and physical security threats and incidents. The last event in 2023 saw more than 15,000 participants come together from approximately 250 North American organizations, including the electric industry, cross-sector partners from gas and telecommunications, and U.S. and Canadian government partners. Registration for lead planners and planners is now open to E-ISAC members and partners.

Nuclear energy’s place in supporting grid reliability 

Timothy McJunkin, Distinguished Researcher and Group Lead for Grid Integration and Control in the Power and Energy System, Idaho National Laboratory 

Timothy McJunkin will highlight analysis supporting nuclear energy’s role in a stably operating electric grid, new efforts funded by the Department of Energy, and a brief outlook for the progress in advanced reactor development. This is particularly relevant given the large load growth the grid is seeing, which has led to momentum for some nuclear plants being restarted and potentially increasing the unit capacity at existing plants.

McJunkin leads work at the Idaho National Lab in implementing nuclear energy centered microgrids. His current research is centered around cross-cutting research to develop resilience solutions of the energy sector and human systems automation directed at critical-infrastructure.

Current state of the CIP Standards 

Lew Folkerth, Principal Reliability Consultant, External Affairs, ReliabilityFirst 

Lew Folkerth will give an overview on the current status of the NERC Reliability Standards regulating Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP), including a current look at the standards, what’s coming soon, and what standards are in progress.