As FBI Director Christopher Wray testified Wednesday, Chinese Hackers are determined to "wreak havoc" on critical U.S. civil infrastructure.
Moreover, little is more threatening than China’s cyberattack threat to our electric power grid that is vital to all aspects of U.S. interests . . . by providing essential electricity to our homes, water and wastewater operations, hospitals, police and other emergency responders, etc. . . . as well as to military bases and associated operations.
Arguably, the most important single components of our electric power grid are the large transformers that "step down" the voltage from the high voltage power transmission lines from the nation’s power plants to the "Distribution Grid" that comprises approximately 90% of the overall grid and provides electricity to all the above-mentioned critical civil operations.
And our grid already includes several hundred such transformers that China produced.
I have previously emphasized this notable shortcoming, perhaps most notably over a year ago in my Jan. 27, 2023 article which poignantly asked "When Will the Powers That Be Protect the Electric Grid?"
Sadly, I must report that nothing of note has happened since that article was published . . . and it complained nothing of note had been accomplished since this existential threat was competently, exhaustively, and repeatedly presented to the "powers that be" during the preceding two decades.
That article also showed a photo of one of these large transformers, one that Duke Energy Corporation over five years ago gave to the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) for testing against cyber-attacks, including electromagnetic pulse (EMP) threats the most expansive cyberattack threat that could be executed not only by China, but also Russia, North Korea and Iran . . . all of which include such an attack strategy in their attack plans.
That transformer is too large to deliver by trucking it to SRNL because it cannot get under key highway overpasses; so, it has sat idle for five years in North Charleston, hopefully waiting for funds to ship it up the Savannah River to SRNL to be tested in an already existing facility.
Sufficient funding was specifically designated and appropriated in 2019 to support this shipping and testing . . . but the Department of Energy found other ways to spend that money. Never mind the promises of U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in her 2021 confirmation hearing.
These issues . . . including Secretary Granholm’s acknowledgement of this existential threat that has since gone unaddressed . . . were presented in an important Feb. 1, 2024 conference in the U.S. Capitol to rollout the important movie narrated by Dennis Quade: "Grid Down Power Up."
Among important matters presented in this hour-long film, is a charge that unhelpful lobbying of the grid’s regulatory bodies has been responsible for them not assuring needed protection of the grid.
Some might justifiably claim ignorance, especially among the local/state level commissioners who are responsible for the viability of the distribution grid (owned and operated by several thousand power companies and cooperatives around the nation), which composes about 90-percent of the overall grid.
But this vulnerability of all Americans is far too important for the "powers that be" to continue to ignore.
Hopefully, this film will lead our representatives and senators to finally initiate actions to address the vulnerability of our electric grid.
And assuring the viability of the large transformers deserves top priority!
As always, stay tuned!
Ambassador Henry F. (Hank) Cooper, an acknowledged expert on strategic and space national security issues, was President Ronald Reagan's Chief Negotiator at the Geneva Defense and Space Talks with the Soviet Union and Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) Director during the George H.W. Bush administration. Read Ambassador Cooper's Reports — More Here.
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