The Energy Emergency Assurance Coordinators program is a cooperative effort between the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), and the DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity Energy Security and Energy Restoration (CESER), Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration (ISER) Division. It provide for points of contact in each states and serves as a means to share, and exchange, information on planning for, and responding to, energy emergencies. It supports a secure cooperative communications environment for state and local government personnel with access to information on energy supply, demand, pricing, and infrastructure. Designated members have expertise in electricity, petroleum, and natural gas. The current membership of nearly 200 professionals is made up of representatives from state energy offices, public utility organizations, state legislators, emergency management agencies, homeland security agencies, local governments, and Governors’ offices.
The EEAC program was first implemented in 1996 by NASEO and DOE. It was informally expanded over the years to include NASEO, NARUC, NGA—Center for Best Practices. In February 2016 the Agreement was updated and expanded to include the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), and NARUC and NGA also formally signed the agreement. The Agreement and "Terms of Reference" provides further details on the program. Also see the DOE's announcement on the EEAC agreement.
Each state has assigned at least one primary and one secondary designee and may designate contacts for each energy source (electricity, natural gas, and petroleum). In the event of an energy supply disruption or emergency, CESER relies upon the EEAC contacts to provide an up-to-date assessment of energy markets in the effected states and States rely on CESER to share their assessments, situation reports and other relevant information. During these emergency situations, as well as other non-emergency situations in which the list may be used, the EEACs serve as the link between the state, industry, and CESER .
States are reminded to update their EEAC contacts. These contacts should be reviewed and updated at least annually or when there has been any significant reorganization that might affect the individuals that have been designated as EEAC. A reminder on your work calendar might be helpful to assure these updates are done regularly.
For more information on the Energy Emergency Assurance Coordinators Program, please contact Sarah Trent, Senior Program Manager.