The recent attack on two North Carolina substations once again has highlighted the fact that the electric system remains a target for physical attack. But intensifying Russian attacks on Ukraine’s grid highlight another threat to US electric infrastructure – the potential use of armed Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly called drones, to strike substations and other critical assets.

In two earlier blogs, I discussed the need to create a Design Basis Threat (DBT) for blackstart planning in the face of new and emerging threats, and then conduct the necessary planning studies to ensure there is sufficient and operable blackstart generation available. But, just as important as development of a DBT, is the need to ensure that: (1) blackstart resources receive just and reasonable compensation; and (2) there are no regulatory disincentives to providing blackstart services.

In an earlier blog, I discussed the need to create a Design Basis Threat (“DBT”) for blackstart in the face of new and emerging threats

As we just saw in Texas, life without electricity spins rapidly into chaos. Without electricity, phones do not work, cell phones and computers cannot be recharged, and the internet and television cease to operate.

If a full-scale blackout occurs in one of the three electrical interconnections in the United States or, even worse, throughout the entire continental U.S., the only way to restore electricity is through a process known as “blackstart.”

After a year in which the definition of “hero” was redefined in many ways, this past Sunday marked a national appreciation day for one group of heroes whose claim to that name was unchanged, and in fact reinforced, in 2020 – the electric lineworkers of America.

The Biden Administration’s proposed infrastructure plan, known as The American Jobs Plan, contemplates hundreds of billions of dollars of investments in infrastructure resilience, including the construction of large, new high-voltage electric transmission lines that can handle 20 gigawatts of power.

From the White House to Capitol Hill, from federal agencies to the private sector and their lobbyists, everyone is abuzz about rejuvenating and rebuilding our nation’s aging infrastructure.

As we just saw in Texas, life without electricity spins rapidly into chaos. Without electricity, phones do not work, cell phones and computers cannot be recharged, and the internet and television cease to operate.

As electric utilities work to better-protect the grid while simultaneously integrating more distributed energy resources (DERs), preparing for a major increase in electric trucks and cars, and supporting the billions of interconnected machines and devices that comprise the Internet of Things, secure and reliable communications channels are critical to security and resilience.