U.S. Utilities Tighten Security After 2013 Attack Wall Street Journal (02/10/14) Smith, Rebecca Two electric utilities have announced that they are taking steps to improve the security of their facilities following increased concerns about the possibility of terrorist attacks on the nations power grid. One of the utilities that has unveiled new security measures is Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), whose electric substation near San Jose, Calif., was attacked by gunman in April 2013 who destroyed 17 transformers at the facility. That incident, which has been labeled an act of terrorism by former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, prompted the increased concern about physical attacks on electric power facilities. Among the security measures announced by PG&E are the construction of fences at vital transmission substations that potential attackers cannot see through, as well as having PG&E employees staff important locations overnight. The Tennessee Valley Authority, meanwhile, has begun educating local law enforcement in its service territory about the importance of electric power substations as well as how the facilities should normally look so they can more easily identify potential security problems. TVA employees are also going door to door asking residents near its infrastructure to report any suspicious activity. The increased efforts to protect electricity transmission infrastructure comes after several Democratic senators on Feb. 7 asked federal energy regulators to establish a set of minimum physical security standards for important components of the nations electric grid.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 21:35:05 +0000
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