Trump has signed a new executive order banning foreign-made bulk-power equipment, including software, from the US electrical grid.
The order declares a national emergency over foreign-built hardware and software in bulk-power systems, the high-voltage plants, transmission lines, and substations that keep the lights on nationwide. It bars US citizens and companies from buying, importing, or installing equipment the Energy Department flags as a national security risk. The White House also ordered a review of systems already installed, with a mandate to isolate and replace foreign components. The Energy Department has 120 days to write the enforcement rules, working with other agencies, though the criteria for what counts as risky remain undefined.
This is a rerun. Trump issued nearly the same order in 2020, only for the Biden administration to suspend it in early 2021 and later have the Energy Department formally revoke it. That history matters: an order this vague is only as durable as the administration that enforces it, and the real fight will happen in the 120-day rulemaking process, not in today's signing. Cyberscoop has tied it to concerns about Chinese-made gear in US energy infrastructure, noting China supplies 85% of global solar supply chain capacity and is a major power-transformer manufacturer.
Think of it as the electrical-grid version of the Huawei and ZTE crackdown on 5G networks - except this time the target industry is far more fragmented, and 'rip and replace' is a lot harder when the parts in question are transformers and substations, not routers.