By Lew Folkerth, Principal Reliability Consultant, External Affairs

In this series of articles, I’ll explore the NERC CIP Standards applicable to low impact Bulk Electric System Cyber Systems. These articles are my opinions only – consider them to be my advice to you. Most of this advice will reference the enforceable language of the Reliability Standards, and I’ll quote the applicable wording or provide links to the applicable documents. The enforceable language of the standards will always govern, and if you think my advice conflicts with this language, please let me know.

In the low-impact series, I will tell you what you must accomplish and what you should accomplish with your compliance program. But I cannot tell you how to be compliant. How you implement these standards is individual to each organization.

I’m going to assume you are new to the CIP Standards. I will begin with some foundational material before progressing to more advanced topics and  provide links that may be useful for your own reference library.