Not-So-Smart Grid (IBD Exclusive Series: Inside The Stimulus)

IBD Editorials ^ | April 1, 2009

[Kaslin]

Infrastructure: The stimulus plan to turn America's electrical infrastructure into a so-called "smart grid" is a potential target for unfriendly hackers. It's also the fulfillment of a campaign promise rooted in socialism.

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There is $4.5 billion in the stimulus package to modernize the nation's electricity system. The whole idea is to monitor where and when electricity is used and to direct it to where and when it is needed.

It is thought this will help utilities to adjust their rates to immediate supply and demand for power. It would supposedly allow consumers to adjust their consumption to the times when they can get the best rates. It's hoped this system will reduce waste and promote energy efficiency and conservation.

But the same technology that makes this possible also will make the nation's electrical grid vulnerable to computer criminals and foreign enemies who might want to hack into our power grid and shut it down in a moment of crisis.

"With a smart grid, anybody with an eBay account and $80 can go and buy a smart meter, reverse-engineer it, and figure out how to attack the grid," Josh Pennell, president and CEO of IOActive, a technology research firm in Seattle, testified before the Department of Homeland Security last week. Imagine what a foreign power could do.

There's another concern, and it's seen in the words of Carol Browner, former EPA director now serving as a senior Obama adviser for energy and climate change. In a March 9 interview with U.S. News & World Report, Browner said that with the smart grid, "Eventually, we can get to a system when an electric company will be able to hold back some of the power so that maybe your air conditioner won't operate at its peak."

[Cindy]

FOX NEWS.com: "ELECTRICAL 'SMART GRID' NOT YET SMART ENOUGH TO BLOCK HACKERS" by James Osborne (SNIPPET: "Obama's economic stimulus package allocates $4.5 billion to modernize the nation's electricity system and put smart-grid technology on the fast track.") (March 30, 2009) (Read More...)

CNET.com - News: "REPORT: SMART-GRID HACKERS COULD CAUSE BLACKOUTS" by Zoe Slocum (March 21, 2009, 12:03 pm PDT) (Read More...)

[GeronL]

Big Brother again

[theymakemesick]

The “smart grid” is about being able to charge you more for electricity at certain times of the day. Want to run a heavy load (air conditioner, dryer, etc) in the late morning/early afternoon? Be ready to pay $.40/kwh for the “privilege” of using A/C during the day. Think “electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket”.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[Carol Browner. . .now serving as a senior Obama adviser for energy and climate change (said) “Eventually, we can get to a system when an electric company will be able to hold back some of the power so that maybe your air conditioner won't operate at its peak.”]

“Brownout” Browner