PAUL STOCKTON

As Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense from 2009-2013, Dr. Stockton led the development of DOD’s Strategy for Mission Assurance, which highlighted the foundational importance of the electric system for US security and launched new Defense partnerships with industry and DOE. After leaving office, Dr. Stockton wrote a pioneering NARUC analysis differentiating grid reliability from resilience. He subsequently published a series of studies to help strengthen BPS cyber resilience, including Resilience for Grid Security Emergencies: Opportunities for Industry-Government Collaboration. Most recently, his works include Strengthening the Cyber Resilience of the North American Energy Systems (the Wilson Center, September 2020) and Securing the Grid from Supply-Chain Based Attacks (Idaho National Laboratory, September 2020). Dr. Stockton chairs DOE’s advisory subcommittee on Grid Resilience for National Security. He is also a member of DHS’ Homeland Security Advisory Council and of NARUC’s Emergency Preparedness, Recovery, and Resilience Task Force.

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While serving as Assistant Secretary, Dr. Stockton led Defense support for DOE and power companies affected by Superstorm Sandy, including the first-ever use of DOD cargo aircraft to transport restoration assets. Building on that operational experience in Superstorm Sandy: Implications for Developing a Post-Cyberattack Power Restoration System, Dr. Stockton supported the ESCC’s development of the cyber mutual assistance system and other initiatives to enable power restoration “under fire.” He is currently helping the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency develop new options to meet requests for assistance from BPS entities, including National Guard and US Cyber Command support for blackstart restoration in wide-area outages. He has also helped industry leaders and their government partners build preparedness for emergency operations in the GridEx IV and V Executive Tabletops, serving as the facilitator and helping design the exercises.

Dr. Stockton has frequently testified before US congressional committees and closely collaborates with Members and staff on resilience issues. He has also testified at FERC reliability technical conferences and other meetings, and provided regulatory filings on grid reliability and resilience pricing. Dr. Stockton has served on seven NARUC conference panels on improving metrics and regulatory frameworks. In addition, he has made presentations to the Harvard Electricity Policy Group and other organizations on redesigning wholesale markets to further incentivize resilience investments.

Dr. Stockton holds a PhD from Harvard University and a BA from Dartmouth College. He was twice awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, DOD's highest civilian award. The Department of Homeland Security also awarded Dr. Stockton its Distinguished Public Service Medal. Prior to joining DOD, Dr. Stockton served as a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, Associate Provost of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, and as Legislative Assistant for defense and foreign policy for Senator Danial Patrick Moynihan.