Defending America’s grids from emerging threats
WASHINGTON (Sept. 15, 2016) – America’s electrical grid serves an irreplaceable, central role in the national economy. However, the grid’s vital importance also makes it a potential vulnerability, according to a new R Street policy short by Senior Fellow Josiah Neeley.
“The electrical grid’s critical role in the economy also serves as a source of vulnerability. Should the grid fail – whether due to deliberate attack, an accident or a natural event – the results could be catastrophic,” Neeley writes. “Without electricity, simple everyday tasks such as pumping gas, withdrawing money from a bank account or talking with a loved one in another state would become difficult, if not practically impossible.”
Potential threats to the electrical grid include both weaponized and naturally occurring electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), as well as cyber and conventional attacks, and damage caused by natural disasters. Many of these dangers could be easily avoided via reasonable grid modernization.
Neeley concludes: “The fact that a grid failure would be so devastating is, in a way, a testament to the huge benefits the modern electrical grid provides. Where steps can be taken to minimize risk at reasonable cost, it would be reckless not to do so.”
