“Industry and government should continue discussing how to consider government priorities during a complex and prolonged power outage scenario as part of the electric industry’s established restoration procedures.” - GridExVII Lessons Learned Report, April 2024.

This GridExVII lesson learned will serve as the central theme for this special Talk with Texas RE that will bring together Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) from numerous sectors to address cyber and physical challenges, and promote the importance of information sharing. This lesson learned underscores that in a prolonged outage scenario, competing demands, interdependencies, and evolving situational awareness can make prioritization both essential and difficult. Clear, pre-established priorities aligned between industry and government are vital to ensuring that restoration efforts are both efficient and effective, minimizing cascading impacts across sectors.

This special forum will reinforce a unifying truth: reliability and security are collective responsibilities. No single sector can achieve resilience alone, especially in the face of sophisticated foreign adversaries. Whether safeguarding the electric grid, maintaining water systems, securing communications, or protecting transportation networks, the strength of the response depends on trust, collaboration, and shared commitment. This webinar will provide a forum to continue building relationships, sharing information, and providing tools to industry stakeholders to meet complex challenges with unity, clarity, and resolve.

Attendees of this special forum can expect the following key themes to be discussed:

• Complexity of Coordination
  Multi-sector interdependencies require early, structured engagement to align restoration priorities and avoid conflicting actions.
• Clear Priorities
  Pre-established, jointly understood priorities between industry and government are essential to guide decision-making during prolonged disruptions.
• Information Sharing as a Force Multiplier
  Timely, accurate, and actionable information shared through ISACs enables faster threat detection, coordinated mitigation, and informed decision-making across sectors. ISACs serve as trusted hubs that bridge industry and government, ensuring critical intelligence reaches the right stakeholders at the right time.
• Shared Situational Awareness
  Consistent communication channels and common operating frameworks strengthen collective response capabilities.
• Unity of Effort
  Reliability and security depend on trust, collaboration, and a shared commitment to the greater good across all sectors.

Presenters

John Bryk serves as manager of intelligence & risk analysis at the Downstream Natural Gas Information Sharing and Analysis Center (DNG-ISAC). John works closely with industry partners and government stakeholders to enhance resilience and strengthen information-sharing practices. He's a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a former U.S. diplomat.

Joseph Younger serves as vice president and chief operating officer responsible for overseeing the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program (CMEP) at Texas RE. Previously he served as Texas RE’s director of enforcement and director of the Texas reliability monitor, as well as the enforcement department manager. He is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Kent Scholar and received a PhD in latin american history from Princeton University in 2011.

Kenath Carver is the director of cybersecurity outreach & CIP compliance at Texas RE and has been with the company since 2012. He has over 15 years of information technology experience and prior to joining Texas RE, Kenath worked as an IT business solutions analyst and senior IT security administrator. Mr. Carver holds numerous industry-leading certifications, including: CompTIA Network+, Security +, CySA+; GIAC CIP, and ISC2 SSCP.