{ "id": "R43604", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43604", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 442750, "date": "2015-07-02", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T18:50:39.953790", "title": "Physical Security of the U.S. Power Grid: High-Voltage Transformer Substations", "summary": "The U.S. electric power grid consists of over 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and hundreds of large transformer substations. High voltage (HV) transformer units make up less than 3% of U.S. transformers, but they carry 60%-70% of the nation\u2019s electricity. Because they serve as vital nodes, HV transformers are critical to the nation\u2019s electric grid. HV transformers are also the most vulnerable to damage from malicious acts.\nFor more than 10 years, the electric utility industry and government agencies have engaged in activities to secure HV transformers from physical attack and to improve recovery in the event of a successful attack. These activities include coordination and information sharing, spare equipment programs, security standards, security exercises, and other measures. There has been some level of physical security investment and an increasing refinement of voluntary security practices across the electric power sector for at least the last 15 years. However, recent grid security exercises, together with a 2013 physical attack on transformers in Metcalf, CA, have changed the way grid security is viewed and have focused congressional interest on the physical security of HV transformers. They have also prompted new grid security efforts by utilities and regulators. \nOn November 20, 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a new mandatory Physical Security Reliability Standard (CIP-014-1) proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The new standards require certain transmission owners \u201cto address physical security risks and vulnerabilities related to the reliable operation\u201d of the power grid by performing risk assessments to identify their critical facilities, evaluate potential threats and vulnerabilities, and implement security plans to protect against attacks. Legislative proposals would expand federal efforts to prevent or recover from a physical attack on the U.S. grid. These include the Enhanced Grid Security Act of 2015 (S. 1241), the Critical Electric Infrastructure Protection Act (H.R. 2271), the Terrorism Prevention and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2015 (H.R. 85), a House bill to establish a strategic transformer reserve program (H.R. 2244), and the Grid Modernization Act of 2015 (S. 1243).\nThere is widespread agreement among government agencies, utilities, and manufacturers that HV transformers in the United States are vulnerable to terrorist attack, and that such an attack potentially could have catastrophic consequences. But the most serious, multi-transformer attacks could require acquiring operational information and a certain level of sophistication on the part of potential attackers. Consequently, despite the technical arguments, without more specific information about potential targets and attacker capabilities, the actual risk of a multi-HV transformer attack remains an open question. As the electric power industry and federal agencies continue their efforts to improve the physical security of critical HV transformer substations, Congress may consider several issues as part of its oversight of the sector: identifying critical transformers, confidentiality of critical transformer information, adequacy of HV transformer protection, quality of federal threat information, recovery from HV transformer attacks, and the overall resiliency of the grid. Maintaining an integrated perspective on prevention, recovery, and resilience may help to promote an effective balance among industry investment, regulatory requirements, and federal oversight.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43604", "sha1": "44281daf0b80119cbc0f717a86e895dc00cde915", "filename": "files/20150702_R43604_44281daf0b80119cbc0f717a86e895dc00cde915.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43604", "sha1": "df43c1c3c34ecca8d6730fcca7cff108dbdd4a66", "filename": "files/20150702_R43604_df43c1c3c34ecca8d6730fcca7cff108dbdd4a66.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2913, "name": "Electric Power Sector" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332888/", "id": "R43604_2014Jun17", "date": "2014-06-17", "retrieved": "2014-08-27T12:47:05", "title": "Physical Security of the U.S. Power Grid: High-Voltage Transformer Substations", "summary": "This report discusses the electric power industry which consists of electric power grid of over 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140617_R43604_c59de7e8e76e32c9896509efeacac8eaa67095b5.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140617_R43604_c59de7e8e76e32c9896509efeacac8eaa67095b5.html", "source": "pymupdf" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Powerline siting", "name": "Powerline siting" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Electric power transmission", "name": "Electric power transmission" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Electric power distribution", "name": "Electric power distribution" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Energy Policy", "Intelligence and National Security" ] }