Wesley K. Clark is a businessman, educator, writer and Commentator. General Clark serves as Chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates.
National Commission on Grid Resilience
The electrical grid is foundational to our nation’s common defense, general welfare, and economic strength. It has been hailed as the greatest engineering feat of the 20th century; however, through a century of change it has become vulnerable to cyber intrusions, physical attacks, and electromagnetic pulses (EMPs). It will take bipartisan cooperation to make our grid resilient to such threats in an era of rising international tensions and heightened uncertainty.
Protecting the grid will require development in three key areas…
Cyber Resilience
The grid has not kept pace with modern cybersecurity measures. It remains vulnerable to the type of attacks that caused the Ukrainian Blackout of 2015. Grid resilience efforts must combat cyber threats.
"…the ability to hack into vendor systems controlling various distributed devices may be sufficient to destabilize and even take down parts of the power grid.”
~ NCGR 2020 Report
Physical Protection
Outages have been induced by physical attacks ranging from high-powered automatic weapons to mylar balloons. Grid resilience efforts must include physical security.
"A coordinated attack on a limited number of critical assets, such as high-voltage transformers or large power plants, could render parts of the grid inoperable for months."
~ NCGR 2020 Report
EMP Resistance
Electromagnetically charged particles have induced outages through high-altitude nuclear weapon tests and natural occurrences like the Quebec Solar Storm of 1989. Grid resilience efforts must account for human-made and natural threats.
"A single EMP attack may seriously degrade or shut down a large part of the electric power grid in the geographic area of EMP exposure effective instantaneously."
~ NCGR 2020 Report
About
The Commission
The National Commission on Grid Resilience (NCGR) identifies and promotes national strategic policy initiatives to ensure the security and resilience of the U.S. electrical grid. The Commission serves to: (1) generate and focus interest from the public and private sector on grid security and resilience; (2) facilitate bipartisan support for national grid innovation efforts; (3) develop an actionable, nonpartisan road map for grid innovation; and (4) inform legislative and executive branch priorities.
"Confronted with the ravages of a pandemic that many understood as an abstract possibility but failed to recognize as a real public health or economic threat, it is time to think differently about how we conceptualize and prepare for potentially catastrophic events.”
~ NCGR 2020 Report
Collaboration & Leadership
Commission Members
The NCGR is Co-Chaired by General Wes Clark (USA, ret.) and Congressman Darrell Issa.
Co-Chair Darrel Issa
As former Chairman of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, Congressman Issa served as the top government watchdog in Congress.
Updates
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"Hackers backed by nations like Iran and Russia have continued to probe the power grid, and utilities have reported steadily increasing numbers of attempted cyber intrusions over the years."
~ E&E News, November 3rd 2020
