About those 30-06 “popguns.”
Rifle-Toting Terrorists Called Major Threat to U.S. Power Grid
Friday, November 23, 2012
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) — An attack on the power grid by terrorists — even ones armed with relatively simple weapons — is among the greatest threats to the reliability of the nation’s power system, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said.
“There are ways that a very few number of actors with very rudimentary equipment could take down large portions of our grid,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said today at a Bloomberg Government breakfast in Washington. “I don’t think we have the level of physical security we need.”
The security of the power-network components such transformers “is an equal if not greater issue” than cybersecurity, Wellinghoff said.
“A coordinated physical attack is a very, very unsettling thing to me,” Wellinghoff said. The FERC chairman said that about six weeks ago he visited a Pennsylvania plant where high- voltage transformers are made. “It was a very interesting and very eye-opening experience,” he said.
Transformers, which alter the voltage of electricity, are often custom built for utilities and can take 18 to 36 months to make, according to Wellinghoff. They are also inadequately protected, often surrounded only by chain-link fences, he said. An attacker “could get 200 yards away with a .22 rifle and take the whole thing out,” Wellinghoff said.
(Rest of article at link.)
Wellinghoff ... The FERC chairman said that about six weeks ago he visited a Pennsylvania plant where high- voltage transformers are made. “It was a very interesting and very eye-opening experience,” he said.
I'm glad to see the FERC chairman takes the time to larn about that 'lectrical stuff. For his next hands on lesson I suggest he stick a fork in a wall outlet. /s