Executive Order 14421: Declaring a National Emergency To Secure the United States Bulk-Power System
President: Donald J. Trump
Declared a national emergency over advanced threats to the bulk-power system and directed Energy, Homeland Security and other agencies to identify critical equipment, strengthen procurement and coordinate resilience measures.
Status: In effect.
Is Executive Order 14421 still in effect? Yes. Active; emergency authorities and grid-security measures invoked.
What does Executive Order 14421 do?
The text directs Energy to assess critical equipment and exercise emergency authorities where justified, and Homeland Security to coordinate threat information and critical-infrastructure support.
Reading the operative provisions of Executive Order 14421
EO 14421 declares a national emergency concerning threats to the bulk-power system and directs Energy, Homeland Security and other agencies to identify critical equipment and strengthen procurement and resilience. The Federal Register text establishes a federal response framework; it does not shut down the electric grid or bar every foreign-made component from use.
Bulk-power infrastructure includes generation, transmission and control systems whose failure could affect large regions. Agencies may identify equipment with security risks, improve supply-chain requirements and coordinate with utilities. A designation or procurement restriction needs to specify which equipment is covered, how existing installations are treated and what exceptions are available for reliability needs.
The order’s emergency finding does not eliminate the roles of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, utilities, state regulators or grid operators. Any emergency direction affecting operation must have a legal basis and be coordinated to avoid creating the outage it seeks to prevent. To measure implementation, look for equipment lists, procurement standards, utility guidance, incident reporting and investments in domestic or allied supply chains.
Supply-chain resilience also involves identifying legacy equipment already in service, not only screening future purchases. Utilities need plans to replace or secure components without disrupting reliable operation. Agencies should coordinate with grid operators and vendors on testing, patching, spare parts and emergency response. These implementation details show whether the declared emergency produced specific protective measures.
Before and after
Before the order
Grid reliability and security were governed by the Federal Power Act, FERC-approved standards, emergency authorities and utility and state responsibilities.
After the order
The emergency declaration activated the order’s coordination and review framework; concrete restrictions, procurement terms or emergency dispatch directions require later instruments.
By September 15 the order was less than three weeks old. DOE, FERC and CISA sources were checked, but no public completion report, amendment, revocation or material order-specific lawsuit was found. Existing mandatory reliability standards continued to apply.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | Assess critical equipment and exercise emergency authorities where justified | Ongoing |
| Homeland Security | Coordinate threat information and critical-infrastructure support | Ongoing |
| Agencies | Review procurement and domestic supply resilience | Staged deadlines |
What happened next
EO 14421 signed and the national emergency declared.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The National Emergencies Act requires statutory grounding and congressional reporting; it does not create unlimited power. DOE emergency orders, FERC reliability action, procurement exclusions and information-sharing measures each retain their own legal tests, process and judicial-review path.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
- FERC — Electric reliability (opens in a new tab) Official record
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 15, 2026. How we research →