Objective: Immediate action to implement enhanced security measures for the U.S. energy grid in light of its current vulnerabilities, particularly against potential EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) attacks.
Background and Vulnerability:
Numerous reports and analyses underscore the vulnerabilities within the U.S. energy grid. According to the Congressional EMP Commission, an EMP event could severely disrupt the infrastructure by damaging transformers and other critical components, leading to widespread, long-lasting power outages. The Department of Homeland Security has also cited the grid’s susceptibility to both physical and cyber threats, with EMPs posing one of the gravest risks due to their capacity to cause instant, large-scale damage to electrical systems.
Potential Impact of an EMP Attack:
An EMP attack could devastate the nation’s infrastructure by disrupting power across vast areas, affecting water supplies, communications, healthcare systems, and the overall economy. The cascading effect of an energy grid failure would impede basic services, compromise national security, and take years—and billions of dollars—to repair.
Request:
prioritize legislation that mandates EMP-resistant upgrades for critical components of the energy grid. This includes fortifying power stations, substations, and transformers with EMP-hardened technology, as well as funding research for more resilient grid infrastructure. Implementing these measures will safeguard national security, protect essential services, and strengthen the resilience of the energy grid in the face of evolving threats.
Given the big changes in government and in the balance of power brought about by this election, we need to do this soon to protect our country from our adversaries both domestic and foreign.
Big critical one and there is a low cost solution that could be implemented across the states in less than 2 yrs! I am not understanding why gov has not done something already! They’ve been warned by top scientists for decades yet nothing.
Recommend the proposal should include a generous level of federal subsidy for utilities to implement the increased specifications. Utility lobbyists push back on congress because they do not want to bear the cost alone of such increased hardening of High Voltage Transformers (HVTs). In some cases hardening has taken place by the utilities but at a low level, not effective compared to the actual threats. It was enough to say “Yes we did”. Without getting into the numbers and units here, compliance should be high, matching known nuclear/EMP threats today.
Need to address use of foreign parts in grid opening national grid to hacking and disruption by foreign agents.
Previous executive order to begin addressing this was cancelled by Biden. This needs to be LAW and address a short suspense to harden and protect the grid.
There have been a fairly high number of fires from smart power meters they should either need to be EMP hardened, secure and more robust or banned.