United States President Joe Biden’s ambitious infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan, includes $20 billion in funds to help state, local and tribal governments improve their energy infrastructure through grants and investment-based tax credits in clean energy, cybersecurity and increased grid resilience.
The $2 trillion plan will also include $2 billion for micro-grids and distributed energy infrastructure to safeguard critical infrastructure and solidify grid resilience, according to a White House fact sheet.
Details of the administration’s proposed investment in critical infrastructure were released following a large-scale ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline. The attack, claimed by the cybercriminal group DarkSide, prompted the Colonial Pipeline Co. to halt all pipeline operations for nearly a week and initiated urgent discussions of critical vulnerabilities facing industrial control systems across the country.
Along with cybersecurity and control infrastructure, the administration’s plan also aims to incentivize manufacturing innovation through funding for supply chain research and development. However, modernizing supply chains will have its own cybersecurity challenges. A recent report highlighted emerging cybersecurity threats faced by manufacturers as the industry navigates digital transformation.
