Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) is pleased to announce that Brett Lawler, Senior Threat Intelligence Consultant at Xcel Energy, is the recipient of this year’s HERO Award. Lawler has been a member of MRO’s Security Advisory Council (SAC) since 2020 and was integral in forming and helping to lead MRO’s weekly SAC Threat Forum. The forum is a way for security professionals from registered entities across the region to share threat intelligence and raise awareness of security risks to the bulk power system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lawler helped to form a second weekly threat call to share the latest information and lessons learned from pandemic response efforts.

Lawler was selected from a pool of very qualified candidates that were nominated by industry in September. The board’s Organizational Group Oversight Committee (OGOC) that oversees the Volunteer Recognition Program selected Lawler for his exemplary initiative and commitment to advancing the concept and principles of Highly Effective Reliability Organizations (HEROs) in support of MRO’s vision and mission. OGOC Chair JoAnn Thompson said, “Lawler has been instrumental in leading regional efforts to mitigate physical and cyber security risks and has graciously shared his knowledge, experience and insight for the greater good of the region. Please join us in congratulating Brett on this important achievement.”

Lawler was recognized with a certificate and award at MRO’s Annual Member and Board Meeting on December 14, 2023.

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Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the reliability and security of the bulk power system in the central region of North America, including parts of both the United States and Canada. MRO is one of six regional entities in North America operating under authority from regulators in the United States through a delegation agreement with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and in Canada under similar arrangements. The primary focus of MRO is monitoring and enforcing compliance with mandatory reliability standards and assessing the grid’s ability to meet growing electricity demand.