Electricity Grid Cyber Insecurity

A cyber attack on the electricity grid is being considered as one possible reason for power lost to tens of millions of people in five South American countries this weekend. When the lights went out, so did train transportation, water supply pumps, food refrigeration, voting machines, and more.

Nearly coincidental is a report from the New York Times that the U.S. is becoming more offensive in cyber attacks of the Russian power grid. DHS and FBI issued an alert last year that Russians have been attacking nuclear power plants, water stations, and other critical infrastructure, “Russian government actions (are) targeting U.S. Government entities as well as organizations in the energy, nuclear, commercial facilities, water, aviation, and critical manufacturing sectors.”

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission takes prime responsibility for grid operations in the U.S. including mandatory cyber security reliability standards. The challenge is developing an interconnected smart grid to improving digital efficiencies while preventing cyber attacks.

The SmartGrid is being developed by Department of Energy to fulfill the promise by President Obama in 2009, "It will make our grid more secure and more reliable, saving us some of the $150 billion we lose each year during power outages. It will allow us to more effectively transport renewable energy generated in remote places to large population centers, so that a wind farm in rural South Dakota can power homes in Chicago. And by facilitating the creation of a clean energy economy, building this 21st-century energy infrastructure will help us lay a foundation for lasting growth and prosperity."

I can still recall the 2003 blackout in the Northeastern U.S. which also affected air travel in many countries. Some trees hit powerlines causing the fault on the grid. When this happens, power plants may need to shut down to stop producing electricity as supply must equal demand. You can read about this event and some of the largest that occurred in India (affecting over 500 million people) and other countries on the Wikipedia page.

Unprepared for the Big Chill

An extreme polar vortex set up stratospheric warming above the Artic pushing colder air south into North America all the way to south Texas. Millions of people are going days without power, water and heat trying to survive the winter blast. The electrical grid that connects most of the United States is deregulated and independent in Texas so the Lone Star State cannot obtain power from plants located in other states. Most of their energy comes from natural gas and lesser amounts from nuclear, coal, wind and solar. News reports indicate the natural gas pipelines were constructed too shallow and not insulated from extreme freezing temperatures.

Updated February 19, 2021:

Obviously our hearts go out to all the people suffering from the catastrophic winter storm across many areas of North America. The crisis continues to get worse. After four days with no power or heat, many people in Texas and other states are now in a food and water crisis. Frozen water pipes are breaking causing flooding as well as loss of water supply. This is a national emergency and it appears a federal response is occurring. Ramifications are felt worldwide as OPEC increases oil supply to compensate for the decreased Texas supply as well as profiting from the increasing oil and gas prices.

Today, I attended a Clean Energy webinar for Southeast Asia where concern was expressed that wind and solar were being blamed by some Texas politicians including the governor. Renewable sources provide less than a quarter of the supply in Texas so this does not hold true to blame green energy for the crisis. Listen to the Dallas, Texas county official Judge Clay Jenkins say he raised the concern several times over the past decade (WFAA). Maybe the people who blame the wind turbines in Texas freezing over is because Texas produces the most wind energy of any US state! So they should be embracing wind power and rather than denigrating renewable energy.

This issue is very important in Asia as well where many countries have set ambitious goals to have a quarter of the total supply coming from renewable energy sources within three years.

Here are more interesting new media reports focusing on the grid, energy supply, and lack of clean water:

Bloomberg: Texas Crisis Shows Need for More Balanced Grid, Analyst Says (interview with Amrita Sen)

NBC News Now: Texas’ Underregulated Energy Grid Responsible for Millions Without Heat, Energy

CBS News: Over 13 million Texans Facing Water Crisis After Brutal Winter Storm

When demand increases and supplies are short, no matter if it’s heating oil and gas, food or water, people are forced in an emergency to conserve what few resources are available. Having lived in Texas for over a year where everything is super sized and Don’t Mess with Texas, I hope people will demand change to come together to rejoin the national grid as well as energy efficiency and renewables. I wonder if this storm will change the mind of Elon Musk to move his Tesla factory from Oakland to Austin?