The sniper attack last year on a power plant in San Jose, California, wasn't nationally known until about a month ago. But it was a wake up call that put focus on the vulnerability of the electrical power supply in the U.S. While there are 55,000 power plants around the country, taking out only nine would incapacitate the whole system, according to a report released by the FERC. See Mail Online. Excerpt:
'Destroy nine interconnection substations and a transformer manufacturer and the entire United States grid would be down for at least 18 months, probably longer,' wrote FERC's director of external affairs Leonard Tao in a June memo that was only revealed publicly today.
Adding to the problem, the solution is not as simple as just protecting these nine stations because there are reportedly 30 stations that meet the necessary criteria but less than a third of them have to be attacked. Experts differ on the number of stations that would fall into said category- with others putting it closer to 100- but it does not diminish their concern.
Doesn't seem like a project for Al Qaeda as without electricity there would be no headlines. But eco-terrorists might be all in.
The silver lining, if there is one, would be that unlike an EMP attack our appliances and vehicles would still work. There would just be no electricity.
In any event, 18 months is a long time to go without power. After 9-11 there was a lot of focus on preparedness, but we had a different president back then. One has to wonder if our governments at any level have current contingency plans for something like that or whether we'll be on our own. Maybe it's time to start listening to those preppers.
Comments