February 08, 2014
While the FBI investigates a ‘military-style’ attack on California
power station the senate discusses the need for greater security.
(Photo courtesy theverge.com)
Concerns about a sophisticated attack on a California power station prompted top Senate Democrats on Friday to ask officials about whether stronger federal standards are needed to protect the U.S. power grid.
The letter follows news reports earlier this week about a 2013 sniper attack on the electrical substation that lasted 52 minutes and knocked out 17 transformers.
The April 16, 2013, attack on the Pacific Gas & Electric’s Metcalf transmission substation had not been widely publicized until The Wall Street Journal report Wednesday. The attack started when at least one person entered an underground vault to cut telephone cables, then attackers fired more than 100 shots, causing millions in damage.
Workers were able to avert a blackout but it took them 27 days to repair the damage.
The letter was sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and was signed by Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Calif.; Ron Wyden, Oregon; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada; and Al Franken, Minn.
It followed a meeting among them, several other senators and industry and government officials to discuss the success of voluntary measures to protect the country’s bulk power system, as reported Wednesday by FoxNews.com.
“We are concerned that voluntary measures may not be sufficient to constitute a reasonable response to the risk of physical attack on the electricity system,” the senators wrote in the letter.
They also wrote the attack was a “wake-up call to the risk of physical attacks on the grid.”