Tuesday, December 22, 2020 On Thursday, December 17, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR” or “Proposed Rule”) seeking comment on proposals that would allow public utilities to make a filing pursuant to Section 205 of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) to seek incentive-based rate treatment for certain cybersecurity investments made to improve the security of the Bulk-Power System (“BPS”). [1] The NOPR follows a white paper published by FERC staff in June 2020, which expressed concern that the promulgation of mandatory reliability standards in accordance with Section 215 of the FPA may not be effective in responding to complex and rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats, and solicited comments on whether the Commission should use its ratemaking authority to encourage utilities to undertake additional investments on a voluntary basis.