PQC Migration for Electric, Gas, and Water Utilities
Utilities face every constraint of operational technology: long-lived devices, safety cases, and annual patching windows. They also answer to sector regulation such as NERC CIP. Their smart grid infrastructure has more cryptographic dependencies than traditional SCADA systems.
This course covers PQC migration for electric, gas, and water utilities, including OT constraints, regulatory requirements, and smart grid cryptography.
Course Outline
Module 1 The Utility Cryptographic Estate
SCADA and DCS cryptographic dependencies. Smart grid infrastructure: advanced metering, distribution automation, demand response. Substation automation protocols. Generation facility control systems. Water treatment SCADA specifics.
Module 2 NERC CIP and Regulatory Compliance
NERC CIP requirements applied to PQC migration. Change management and configuration management implications. Compliance evidence requirements during cryptographic transition. State-level regulatory considerations for water utilities.
Module 3 Smart Grid Migration
Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) cryptographic migration. Distribution automation and the IEC 61850 protocol suite. Demand response system security. Distributed energy resource (DER) management and cryptographic dependencies.
Module 4 Asset Lifecycle Integration
Integrating PQC migration with asset replacement cycles. Managing 20–30 year asset lifetimes. Gateway-based protection for legacy infrastructure. Budget planning within utility rate-case cycles.
Prerequisites
None. Sector experience is helpful but not required. For a broader PQC foundation, consider starting with Post-Quantum Foundation.
Certificate of Completion
Upon completion, you receive a Quantum Academy certificate of completion. It is separate from our professional certifications and states your CPE credits, one for each 60 minutes of teaching. CISSP, CISM, CRISC and GARP ERP holders can claim them with their certifying body. The credits also count toward renewing a Quantum Academy certification. Our CPE credits page explains how to claim them.
Who this course is for
Utility security architects, OT and control systems engineering leads, NERC CIP compliance staff, and smart grid and metering owners. The course is for electric, gas, and water utilities alike. The constraints are the same even where the regulators differ.
If you run industrial systems outside the regulated utility sector, Quantum-Safe OT and Critical Infrastructure is the closer match.
What you’ll be able to do afterward
- Map the cryptographic estate across generation, transmission, distribution, and metering
- Separate assets that can be migrated within a maintenance window from assets that need an outage
- Work NERC CIP obligations into the plan as a change-control constraint
- Size the smart meter population accurately, including the meters that will never be upgraded
- Write post-quantum requirements into procurement for assets specified now
What you leave with
When you finish, we email you the course handbook, a PDF of every slide with notes that explain it in full. We also include a PDF copy of Quantum Ready. The handbook is yours to keep.
Enrollment includes 180 days of access to the online on-demand course. Where that course is not yet published, the 180 days start on the day it is.
Where this course fits
Nothing is required. Post-Quantum Foundation covers the algorithm vocabulary if you want it first. The Quantum-Safe Energy and Utilities Intensive is the full-day, hands-on workshop. Quantum-Safe OT and Critical Infrastructure covers OT more broadly.
Why we teach this
The course is built on the Applied Quantum PQC Migration Framework. Its author, Marin Ivezic, is one of the practitioners who teach here. The framework is published openly under Creative Commons at pqcframework.org. The people who teach this course run migration programs inside organizations today. The course covers the problems they meet in that work.
About this program
Quantum Academy credentials are private professional credentials issued by Quantum Academy, a trade name of Post-Quantum Institute. They are not government-issued licenses, accredited degrees, or academic credit, and earning one does not guarantee employment, promotion, regulatory approval, or any other specific outcome.
Quantum Academy programs are educational and informational only, and are not legal, compliance, or engineering advice.