Though critical to the nation’s power grid, large power transformers are some of the most vulnerable components in the system. Armed with a shared determination for resiliency, government, industry, grid…
Physical security
The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) standard on physical security—known as Critical Infrastructure Protection-014 (CIP-014)—includes six basic requirements, but perhaps the most challenging for power companies is to develop…
[caption id="attachment_116192" align="alignnone" width="650"] Image courtesy: AES Corp.[/caption] Unmanned aerial systems—drones—have quickly found their place in the power sector. But as the industry moves out of test cases and experiments,…
Utilities across the country are gearing up for an attack on the power grid November 15 and 16. Thankfully, it’s only a drill. But in the event of an actual…
A man claiming to have explosives on September 12 drove past the entrance gate at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in Pendleton, California, and into a restricted parking area,…
Society is highly reliant on the safety and stability of critical infrastructure. From boiling a kettle to maintaining national security, an interruption in the electricity supply can cause serious damage…
As concerns about grid security increase globally, it’s a good time to review the history, scope, and effect of North American electric system reliability standards. As the threat landscape changes,…
Complying with reliability standards requires considerable resource planning. The tools and suggestions provided here may help engineers conform to new generator relay loadability requirements. But compliance isn’t the only reason…
A bill to protect the U.S. power grid from cyber-attacks reintroduced by members of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee urges a "retro" approach to cybersecurity using a novel analog "disrupter"…
Security is taken very seriously at most power plants. Fences and other barriers are usually installed before construction of a plant even begins to keep curious busy-bodies, thieves, protestors, and—at…