All hazards energy resilience the purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to advance tools and technologies specifically designed to reduce risks to energy delivery infrastructure…

New York University received a $1.47 million cooperative agreement from the Department of Energy's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) under the Cybersecurity, Energy Security & Emergency Response (CESER) program (CFDA 81.008), awarded October 1, 2025, and extending through September 30, 2027. The award funds the development of next-generation tools and technologies designed to enhance the security and resilience of energy delivery infrastructure against all hazards, including cybersecurity threats, physical security vulnerabilities, and climate-related effects.

Under this cooperative agreement, NYU is developing advanced monitoring and threat detection capabilities for electrical substations through a sub-award to NEC Laboratories America, Inc. (awarded January 28, 2026). The primary deliverables include implementation of Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing (DFOS) technology for real-time detection of physical disturbances, unauthorized access, tampering, and equipment failures through integrated acoustic, vibration, temperature, and electrical discharge sensing. Additionally, NYU is developing a machine learning-based multi-modal security threat detection and classification system that fuses DFOS sensor data with surveillance camera feeds to enable comprehensive security monitoring and automated threat identification. These integrated tools are designed to provide energy sector operators with enhanced protection, monitoring, and detection capabilities for critical infrastructure protection.

All hazards energy resilience the purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to advance tools and technologies specifically designed to reduce risks to energy delivery infrastructure from all hazards including cybersecurity, physical security, and climate effects. This effort will lead to next generation tools and technologies not available today that will become widely adopted throughout the energy sector to reduce an incident disruption to energy delivery.