A Practical NERC CIP-015 Compliance Guide for Utilities Strengthening Cyber Resilience

On January 19, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) directed the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to develop new Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards, resulting in the groundbreaking CIP-015 Internal Network Security Monitoring (INSM) requirement. This new standard, approved in 2025, shifts grid cybersecurity from perimeter-based defenses to active internal monitoring, enabling organizations to detect lateral movement, reconnaissance, and other adversarial activities inside trusted network zones. 

CIP-015 applies to approximately 400 U.S. registered entities and introduces new responsibilities for High- and Medium-impact Bulk Electric System (BES) Cyber Systems, Electronic Access Control or Monitoring Systems (EACMS) and Physical Access Control Systems (PACS). With enforcement beginning in phases through 2030, organizations must start building mature, defensible monitoring, evaluation, and data protection workflows. 

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What You’ll Learn

• A clear breakdown of CIP-015 Requirements R1–R3
  • Internal monitoring expectations
  • Anomaly detection and evaluation processes
  • Data retention and protection obligations 
• Operational implications for utilities
  • East-west visibility
  • Audit preparedness
  • Risk-based implementation strategies 
• How to align INSM with cybersecurity frameworks
  • Including NIST SP 800-82 and ISA/IEC 62443 to strengthen maturity and traceability
• Common pitfalls to avoid
  • These include over-relying on tools without building evaluation workflows, neglecting EACMS/PACS visibility, and misunderstanding retention requirements
• TRC’s expert guidance
  • Practical insights rooted in real-world audit experience and technical implementation across OT and IT environments

This downloadable white paper helps utilities, operators and compliance leaders understand the scope of CIP-015, key requirements, pitfalls to avoid and strategies for developing an audit-ready INSM program.