Report Details Continued Power Grid Vulnerabilities
Homeland Security Digital Library Blog 2012-11-15
Summary:
Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System
A newly released report from the National Academies Press details the vulnerabilities inherent in the U.S. power grid. In the event of a terrorist attack on the grid, the economic costs reach hundreds of billions of dollars. If the power disruption were coupled with extreme weather events, hundreds or thousands of people could die. The fact that many aspects of the distribution network are already under stress from age and overuse only exacerbates the threat.
The report's recommendations for increasing the resilience of the grid include measures that would:
- Make the power delivery system less vulnerable to attacks
- Restore power faster after an attack
- Make critical services less vulnerable while the delivery of conventional electric power has been disrupted
The report was completed in 2007, but its release to the public was delayed for national security reasons. It is now available for download from the National Academies Press website. Readers will no doubt be interested to read the recommendations for DHS, utility companies, law enforcement, Congress, and other organizations.