A city-run public utility located in a midwestern college town provides electricity to more than 60,000 customers and plays a vital role in the local community. Despite its relatively small size, the utility must comply with the rigorous cybersecurity and operational controls mandated by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s Critical Infrastructure Protection standards. These requirements are essential for protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats and ensuring grid reliability. Maintaining operational technology security while consistently demonstrating NERC CIP compliance, however, places significant demands on staff, processes, and resources, driving the utility to seek more efficient approaches to managing compliance and security obligations.

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