Report: is critical infrastructure protected against high impact low frequency events?

In a report issued on June 2, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) studied the impact of high-impact low frequency (LIHF)  events, such as coordinated cyber, physical or blended attacks or high-altitude nuclear bomb detonations, on North America’s electrical grid.

The continent’s bulk power system is 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines long; it includes thousand of generation plants, and millions of digital controls. North America has grown increasingly dependant on its infrastructure, for its economy as well as for its inhabitants’ daily life. Therefore, any damage imposed to the infrastructure could result in expensive and crippling consequences for both Canada and the United States.

According to the 120-page report, such events, but also extreme solar weather, pandemic diseases or geomagnetic disturbances (GMD) and electromagnetic disturbances could “cause long-term, catastrophic damage to the bulk power system.” The report recommends several government actors, such as the DoE, nearly 15 government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), as well as the NAERC and the electric sector to take measures to protect North America’s infrastructure.  The 19 “Proposals for Action” emphasize the need for intensified public-private partnerships, information sharing, research and development activities and protect key nodes on the system first.

Regarding communication, the report notes that the government should share more information with the industry. “The sector is heavily reliant on information from the public sector for each risk discussed in this document,” one can read.

Another interesting point is that the report seems to take the risk of a coordinated attack most seriously. "The consequences associated with a coordinated cyber and/or physical attack could result in the physical damage or destruction of critical assets, such as generators, substation components, and large transformers," the report warns. "If conducted on a large enough scale, it is possible that the bulk power system could not recover in its present form, but would need to be restored in islands or using rotating outages where enough equipment was still available to operate the system."

The report evolved from a workshop entitled “High-Impact, Low-Frequency” risks to the North American bulk power system held in November 2009.  More than a hundred attendees – from the U.S. Congressional staff, the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DoE, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) among others - participated in that workshop.

“This report is another step in the sector’s continuing efforts to ask the tough questions about potential risks and the steps that will be needed to continually enhance the sector’s risk posture,” ensured Gerry Cauley, president and CEO of NERC. “We look forward to continuing our work with the governments and regulatory authorities of the United States and Canada along with the owners, operators and users of the bulk power system on these important issues.”

“I applaud the leadership of NERC and DOE for stepping up to the plate to tackle such an important topic of concern, not only to the energy community, but to all critical infrastructure sectors and communities across North America,” added Robert Stephan, co-chair of the High-Impact, Low-Frequency Steering Committee, former Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection in the National Protection and Programs Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Managing Director at Dutko Worldwide. “This report reflects the seriousness and commitment of the public-private partnership to resolve critical, long-standing issues and contribute to a more secure and resilient North America. The effort is a major step forward that will help shape critical decisions in the future.”

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is an international regulatory authority for the reliability of the bulk power system in North America.