Grant PUD approves security contract

- Staff report

Columbia Basin Herald

Company will work under nine-month agreement

EPHRATA - Grant County PUD commissioners approved a $920,875 contract this week with a Houston-based contractor to provide security work required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The nine-month contract with Intellibind, LLC will allow the company to train PUD staff on new procedures and implement new procedures under FERC's critical infrastructure protection compliance.

The work the PUD and other utilities in the nation must complete includes protecting the nation's power grid, bulk power systems and control centers. The requirements were set after the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the 2003 Northeast blackout.

The work on 13 critical infrastructure protection standards must be completed by July 1, 2009, to avoid $1 million a day in fines, the PUD's reliability policy and compliance manager Greg Lange said last week during a presentation to commissioners. The PUD is compliant with six of the 13 standards, he said.