Did You Know?

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Are you aware of the delicate nature of the grid that houses the electricity we use on a daily basis? I watched a very interesting "60 Minutes" this last Sunday. The first part of it was about the grid that houses our electrical infrastructure across the US. Think about all the ways in which we use electricity on a daily basis. It runs the pumps that move water and make it available in our homes, runs our refrigerators, runs air conditioning and other appliances, lets us access the internet, cooks our food, and even runs some of our cars now. The electrical grid that houses all of this electricity is spread out over the US with 55,000 substations. This is where raw electricity is converted into lower and higher voltages. If several of these go down it could cause a domino effect that would cause millions of Americans to be without electricity for weeks or even longer. "The Grid" as it is called is a large infrastructure spanning the US. Three of them actually exist. One western, one eastern, and Texas has one of its own. There are physical threats, cyber threats, and natural threats that could cause damage to these grids. In the last decade, there have been 700 physical attacks on the grid. No single person or department is solely responsible for the transformers and infrastructure that the grid houses. No government department protects it or assures its security or maintenance. There are about 3,000 companies, both public and private that own little pieces of the electric grid. What the government is doing does not meet the magnitude of the possible threat to the grid. Your thoughts.