Infrastructure Resilience Briefing — February 10, 2022
Critical infrastructure policy from 2020 through early 2022 layered pandemic-era access guidance, distributed energy market rules, supply-chain directives, and IIJA-funded grid programmes that now underpin Zeph Tech infrastructure roadmaps.
Why it matters: Between 2020 and early 2022, U.S. agencies issued emergency access guidance, rewrote wholesale market participation for distributed energy resources, and activated Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act programmes. These moves define the compliance and funding environment that Zeph Tech infrastructure teams still navigate.
March 2020 — CISA essential critical infrastructure guidance. The first COVID-19 advisory memo clarified which workers qualified for on-site access to maintain energy, communications, and supply-chain continuity. CISA’s guidance has been reissued in multiple versions and still anchors continuity-of-operations planning.
- State and local governments used the memo to align shelter-in-place orders with federal infrastructure designations.
- Operators leveraged the essential-worker categories to secure travel credentials and maintain field maintenance coverage.
September 2020 — FERC Order No. 2222 on distributed energy resources. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission required regional transmission operators to open wholesale markets to aggregated distributed energy resources. The order compels utilities and RTOs to develop coordination protocols so behind-the-meter assets can provide capacity, energy, and ancillary services.
- RTOs/ISOs must file compliance tariffs within 270 days and establish distribution utility review processes for DER enrolment.
- The order mandates metering, telemetry, and conflict-resolution procedures to prevent double counting between retail and wholesale participation.
February 2021 — Executive Order 14017 on America’s supply chains. The White House launched 100-day reviews for semiconductors, large-capacity batteries, critical minerals, and pharmaceuticals. The order continues to drive industrial base assessments that influence grid equipment sourcing and domestic manufacturing incentives.
- DOE, DOT, and DHS were tasked with sector-specific industrial base reports that inform grant priorities and vendor risk reviews.
- The order directed DPA authorities and incentive recommendations that are now embedded in IIJA and CHIPS supply-chain programmes.
November 2021 — Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58). The statute created the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) programme, EV charging corridors, and grid resilience grants. The law underwrites the clean energy and broadband projects that Zeph Tech clients monitor for partnership opportunities.
- BEAD requires state broadband offices to file five-year action plans and low-cost service options, affecting last-mile deployment partners.
- Sections 40101 and 40103 authorised $5 billion in grid resilience formula grants and a $2.5 billion Transmission Facilitation Program.
January 2022 — DOE Building a Better Grid Initiative. The Department of Energy launched the initiative to accelerate high-capacity transmission build-out and administer IIJA grid programmes. The announcement stood up the Grid Deployment Office and prioritised transmission planning, permitting, and resilience investments.
- DOE committed to issuing guidance for Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership grants and Transmission Facilitation Program financing.
- The initiative coordinates with FERC, states, and regional planners on national transmission corridors and interconnection backlogs.
February 2022 — FHWA National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) programme guidance. Federal Highways translated IIJA section 11401 into formula funding requirements for state EV charging deployment plans. The guidance set minimum standards for uptime, interoperability, and charging station data reporting.
- States must submit deployment plans that maintain 97 percent uptime and require open payment systems for funded chargers.
- The guidance mandates use of domestically assembled hardware and Buy America compliance milestones as supply chains mature.
Action for operators: Anchor infrastructure playbooks to these directives—align workforce continuity, DER market integration, supply-chain reviews, IIJA grant tracking, and NEVI compliance checks to stay eligible for funding and grid programmes.