January 1, Officials Concerned Over Increasing Number of Power Grid Attacks

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
2019: U.S. grounds all Boeing 737 Max aircraft after bans by others countries following the plane type’s second crash in Ethiopia.

State and federal lawmakers alike are sounding the alarm over a dramatic rise in the number of attacks against the country’s electrical grid.

Recently, such attacks have resulted in mass power outages. In response, lawmakers are calling for new security measures to protect Americans.

Data from the Department of Energy shows that there were 163 reported electrical incidents or disturbances caused by acts of vandalism, physical attacks, or “suspicious activity,” according to Axios.

This number marks a sharp increase over the previous peak, which was 94 reported human-related incidents in 2020.

“I don’t think I have to tell all the people in this room that lately we have had an uptick in attacks on the physical security of our grid,” said Willie L. Phillips, acting chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

These attacks left tens of thousands of homes without power last year. In December, roughly 45,000 people in North Carolina were without power following a “targeted” incident wherein two substations were damaged by gunfire.

Later that month, thousands of people in Washington state were left in the dark on Christmas Day after two men attacked substations and caused no less than $3 million in damages.

“We have seen attacks such as these increase in Western Washington and throughout the country and must treat each incident seriously,” U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said last month in a statement. “The outages on Christmas left thousands in the dark and cold and put some who need power for medical devices at extreme risk.”

Last Friday, San Jose prosecutors charged a local man with bombing two electrical transformers.

Lawmakers in several states have introduced legislation to bolster security at substations, including requiring public public utilities to provide 24-hour security at substations and increasing penalties for trespassing into such facilities or damaging equipment.

Source: Axios