Lakeland Electric

Lakeland Electric, the third-largest municipal electric utility in Florida, faced increasing complexity in managing NERC CIP compliance as regulations evolved and their infrastructure expanded. The utility's existing tools were not designed for the specific requirements of critical infrastructure protection.

Manual processes for tracking electronic access controls, security patches, and configuration changes consumed significant staff time and introduced risk of human error. The lack of integration between systems meant that compliance data had to be manually reconciled, creating delays in reporting and potential gaps in documentation.

With limited IT resources compared to larger utilities, Lakeland Electric needed a cost-effective solution that could scale with their needs while providing enterprise-grade compliance capabilities.

Lakeland Electric deployed ChangeGear with modules specifically tailored for NERC CIP compliance requirements. The implementation focused on automating the most time-consuming compliance activities while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to regulatory changes.

The CMDB module provided comprehensive tracking of all BES Cyber Assets and their relationships, enabling accurate impact assessments and change planning. Automated workflows ensured that all changes followed proper authorization procedures with complete documentation.

Integration with vulnerability scanning and patch management tools created a closed-loop system for identifying, prioritizing, and remediating security issues within NERC CIP timeframes.

Lakeland Electric transformed their compliance operations from reactive to proactive. Automated monitoring and alerting enabled the team to identify and address potential compliance issues before they became audit findings.

The streamlined processes freed up staff time previously spent on manual documentation, allowing the team to focus on improving security posture and operational efficiency.