MURFREESBORO, TENN. — Chris Jones, the president and CEO of Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE), traveled to the nation’s capital this week to testify before a Congressional panel on the growing need of rural electric cooperatives to protect their systems and members from cyberattacks.

Appearing before the House Homeland Security Committee, Jones said the co-ops are recruiting cybersecurity experts as threats to utilities grow. “Co-ops are increasingly focused on building local talent through partnerships with educational institutions and providing opportunities for remote work and professional development,” said Jones, head of MTE’s 340,000-member co-op. “We are also seeing partnerships between large generation and transmission cooperatives, statewide associations and distribution co-ops to share tools, equipment and expertise across shared systems to bolster cyber defenses.”

He added the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is leveraging members’ fees and federal dollars to help co-ops attract cybersecurity talent, build professional and mentoring networks and provide training opportunities.

Still, Jones said “While electric cooperatives are making smart investments and building strategic partnerships to develop our cyber professionals, more work needs to be done.”  Because electric co-ops operate as nonprofits, he said it’s difficult to compete with the higher salaries for-profit companies can offer.

Cyberattacks have the potential to disrupt the power supply, causing widespread outages and economic damage. Jones said the rise of sophisticated malware, ransomware and phishing attacks further escalates the risk.

At the Congressional level, Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., has introduced legislation to expand cybersecurity internship opportunities to electric co-ops in rural communities, which Jones praised. “Developing a talent pipeline with off-ramps into rural communities will help grow a local, skilled cybersecurity workforce to protect critical infrastructure in these communities,” he said.

Jones said Green’s Cyber PIVOTT Act, and similar initiatives, “bring much-needed focus to the cyber workforce needs of rural America. Co-ops and our rural communities have a lot to offer in protecting America’s critical infrastructure.”