Electric Grid Hardening

ATTACK ON SUBSTATION TRIGGERS NEW GRID SECURITY, Industry, government both alarmed over threats, 3/26/18, WND

For years the threat has existed. A terror attack on the U.S. power grid could take down a section, causing a domino effect that could lead to a disaster.

A single EMP attack on the grid could shut down life as America knows it, because without power there would be no banking, resupply of food, fuel, heat or communications, explains a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

But ever since a series of .30 caliber rifle shots penetrated a power transformer in Metcalf, California, several years ago – an incident some viewed suspected was a practice run for terrorists since the offenders never were caught – things have begun changing.

There’s actually action being taken to harden America’s grid to protect the nation’s power supply from terrorists.

What many Americans would consider a good step forward was outlined in a new report form the Congressional Research Service called “NERC Standards for Bulk Power Physical Security: Is the Grid More Secure?”

“The 2013 attack on the Metcalf transformer substation marked a turning point for the U.S. electric power sector. The attack prompted utilities across the country to reevaluate and restructure their physical security programs,” said the report by analyst Paul Parfomak.

“It also set in motion proceedings in Congress and at FERC which resulted in the promulgation of NERC’s CIP-014 mandatory physical security standards in 2015. Based on discussions with FERC and NERC staff about utility compliance, as well as a review of public information about the activities of bulk power asset owners (and the vendors supplying them), there appear to be physical security improvements underway among owners of bulk power critical assets.”

The report continued, “The public record is too anecdotal to assert conclusively that these changes are occurring uniformly and at every relevant utility, but NERC’s summary compliance reports so far have been positive.”

The report said there’s still work to be done.

“Although it is probably accurate to conclude that, based on the objectives of the CIP-014 standards, the U.S. electric grid is more physically secure than it was five years ago, it has not necessarily reached the level of physical security needed based on the sector’s own assessments of risk,” the conclusion said. For the rest of this report, and more, please go to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

http://www.wnd.com/2018/03/attack-on-substation-triggers-new-grid-security/

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader