In towns and communities across the nation, rural electric cooperatives form the foundation of America’s power grid, delivering energy to millions of homes, businesses, and critical services. As the grid becomes more connected and digitized, these cooperatives face an evolving threat landscape—where cyber resilience is no longer optional, but essential.
To help address these challenges, federal investments totaling $20 million through September 2028 are empowering rural electric co-ops to adopt advanced technologies that strengthen their operational technology (OT) environments and defend against cyber threats. This funding opens the door to accelerated modernization, enabling cooperatives to deploy solutions that provide enhanced visibility, detection, and response capabilities.
Meeting the Moment: Why Cybersecurity Investment Matters
Rural electric cooperatives are uniquely positioned—and uniquely challenged. Their geographically dispersed infrastructure, combined with lean operational resources, means that even a single cyber incident can have outsized impacts. Modern threats target both traditional IT and the OT systems that manage substations, distribution networks, and grid operations.
These investments are designed to help rural co-ops bridge critical security gaps by:
- Deploying OT monitoring and anomaly detection systems
- Improving network segmentation and control
- Strengthening threat detection and incident response
- Facilitating secure remote access and operational continuity
Empowering Local Choice and Collaboration
A cornerstone of this investment initiative is flexibility. Rural cooperatives retain the power to evaluate and select the technologies that best fit their unique needs and environments. At the same time, voluntary data sharing with national analysis centers can help build a collective understanding of emerging threats—benefiting both individual co-ops and the national grid.
Building a Cyber Resilient Grid: Key Focus Areas
- Enhanced Visibility and Asset Management
Understanding what is connected to the grid—and how assets communicate—is vital. Modern solutions provide automated discovery, network mapping, and continuous monitoring to quickly spot anomalies. - Proactive Threat Detection and Intelligence
Advanced analytics and integration with threat intelligence help co-ops detect suspicious behavior early, allowing for swift mitigation before threats escalate. - Streamlined Response and Recovery
Unified security operations platforms can automate investigations and response, reducing manual workloads and containing incidents faster—crucial for organizations that must provide uninterrupted service. - Hardening OT Environments
Segmentation, ruggedized connectivity, and granular access controls help prevent the lateral spread of threats, protecting both legacy and modern assets from compromise.
How Cisco Supports Rural Electric Cooperatives
Cisco is proud to partner with rural electric cooperatives on their journey to greater cyber resilience. Our broad portfolio of IT and OT security solutions can help address every stage of the security lifecycle, including:
- Visibility: Cisco Cyber Vision, Industrial Network Director
- Detection: Secure Firewall, Secure Network Analytics, Talos Threat Intelligence
- Response: SecureX, Duo Security, AnyConnect VPN
- Hardening: Industrial Ethernet Switches/Routers, Identity Services Engine, IoT Gateways
- IT/OT Integration: Enterprise-grade security that bridges operational and business systems
Our teams collaborate with co-ops and technology partners nationwide, delivering scalable, resilient infrastructure that meets the needs of rural communities.
A Path Forward for Rural Resilience
America’s rural electric grid is fundamental to our way of life—and securing it is a shared responsibility. With new investments and strong industry collaboration, rural electric cooperatives have a unique opportunity to modernize, adapt, and thrive in the digital age.
Want to learn how your cooperative can leverage these investments?
Connect with Cisco’s OT Security team, reach out to our Public Funding Office for guidance on funding strategies, or explore our Energy Solutions to discover resources and expert guidance.
Together, we can empower rural America with a safer, more resilient energy future.
For further reading:
- DOE and NRECA Program Overview
- NRECA Threat Analysis Center
- State of Security 2025 | Splunk
- Cisco OT Cybersecurity Solutions
This post is for informational purposes. For program eligibility and participation, please consult with your cooperative’s leadership or relevant federal resources.
