Reducing the Threat To The American Power Grid

According to a recent article published by The Wall Street Journal, “How America Could Go Dark,” the American electric grid is at risk due to sabotage of largely unprotected, sensitive and hard-to-replace equipment located at electrical substations across the country.

In 2013, an attack was reported at a substation in San Jose, California. Pacific Gas & Electric’s Metcalf facility had 17 transformers knocked out by gunmen and a blackout was narrowly averted. The perpetrators were never caught.

In 2015, an electrical substation in Bakersfield, California was the target of vandalism. Two individuals with flashlights were reported to be prowling inside the chain-link fence that surrounds the substation. Later that day, utility workers found cut transformer wires. The next night, wires to alarms and critical equipment were slashed. Police never identified any suspects nor do they have a clear motive. This substation serves nearly 17,000 customers.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission began to require that utility companies better protect their substations, especially those most critical to the safe functioning of the U.S. grid if attacked. However, many smaller substations like those in San Jose and Bakersfield are exempt from such measures. Nevertheless, all substation operators and all utilities have been ordered to better protect their equipment.

There are nearly 55,000 substations across the United States, and a coordinated attack could destabilize the grid and cause widespread blackouts. At a hearing in June, Gerry Cauley, who is the head of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., was asked what keeps him up at night. His answer: the prospect of “eight or 10 vans going to different sites and blowing things up.” He then followed up by adding that an attack of that magnitude could take weeks—or months—of recovery.

Key Parts of the Problem

There is no doubt that this is a big issue affecting power plants and electrical facilities across the country. Here are several factors that play into the problem:

1. Only simple chain-link fences protect most substations; therefore, burglaries or destruction of property often goes unnoticed or unreported for hours. Some stations do have security cameras, but they are often of little use until reconstructing events after they occur.
2. Records for attacks on substations are spotty at best, thus the government lacks an accurate count of such events.
3. Though regulated by the government, the U.S. electric system is mostly owned and operated by independent utility companies and grid operators. This often leads to conflicting or deficient operating procedures.
4. Many different companies and contractors service, patrol, supervise and monitor electrical substations. Shared access locations are prone to be less secure because multiple users create multiple problems for security.
5. The U.S. electric grid was piecemealed together over the past 125 years. It is most at-risk during the peak usage months of summer and the low usage months of winter, which is when maintenance often takes place. It is a fragile system with very few options to ward off an emergency situation.

Many of these risk factors can be avoided if an effective locking system is put in place. A 1990 report from the federal Office of Technology Assessment noted that “virtually any region would suffer major, extended blackouts if more than three key substations were destroyed.” A security adviser from Abidance Consulting reported that after inspecting nearly 1,000 substations throughout 14 states, “at least half had nothing but a padlock on the gate…No cameras. No motion sensors or alarms.”

How can Everlock Systems Improve Security at your facility?

One proven solution to the security problems at shared access / multi-user substations is Everlock Systems’ multi locking systems. All of our products are not only user friendly, but they also offer more direct control over who can and who cannot have access to the site. Everlock Systems patented products give primary users the ability to grant or deny access to secondary users, helping to keep security under control. Everlock’s all-steel and stainless steel products also prevent inadvertent lockouts for people who should have access. Everlock Systems is proud of our Made In America products, which have been serving businesses and government and utilities alike for more than a dozen years. Contact us today for more information about our state of the art locking systems!