The Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, chaired by U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA), held a hearing entitled “Blackout! Are We Prepared to Manage the Aftermath of a Cyber-Attack or Other Failure of the Electrical Grid?” on Thursday to examine the potential consequences of a massive cyber attack on the U.S.
“There have been numerous Congressional hearings on cybersecurity and how to stop the ‘bad guys.’” Barletta said in his opening remarks. “What has not been discussed in great detail is what the consequences will be from a massive cyberattack that brings down, for example, a large portion of the electrical grid for an extended period of time.
“[W]ith respect to cyber threats to the electrical power system, what consequences should the federal government tell states and local governments to prepare for? In other words, for how many people and for how long should states plan on being without power?”
Barletta said that he has engaged constituents in his district to determine what they will do in the event of a power loss for a sustained period of time.
“Honestly, most of them don’t know because we don’t know what to plan for,” Barletta said. “The federal government does this now for almost every significant hazard we face…The federal government does not have this basic planning scenario for a cyber threat to the power system and there is a huge disparity in what different groups think is a potential scenario for which states and local governments should prepare.
“Imagine what we would do without electricity for a day? A week? A month? A year? Virtually all critical infrastructure is dependent on the electrical grid, particularly the ‘lifeline sectors’ — telecommunications, transportation, water and financial services. And if the goal of the ‘bad guys’ is to collapse the U.S. economic system, they are going to try to cut off the power. There have been reports of hacking attempts on electrical facilities by foreign and domestic parties. Our national security, public safety, economic competitiveness and personal privacy are at risk.”
According to a report by the Department of Homeland Security, more than 40 percent of all reported cyber attacks target the energy sector.
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Craig Fugate told the hearing that the most effective means of planning for and responding to a potentially life threatening physical consequence arising from a cyber attack “is to be as prepared as possible to handle the consequences of any type of catastrophic event, regardless of the
cause. Whether it’s a cyber incident, a space weather event, or a Category 5 hurricane making landfall, FEMA, in partnership with its federal partners, has the plans and resources in place for a robust federal effort to support state, local, tribal, [and] territorial governments, the private sector, and citizens to appropriately respond to any hazard.”
Assistant Secretary of the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability at the U.S. Department of Energy Patricia Hoffman highlighted efforts being made to protect the electrical grid from what she called “an increasingly challenging environment.”
“[The Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability is] committed to working with our public and private sector partners to protect the nation’s critical energy infrastructure, including the electric power grid, from disruptions caused by natural and man-made events, such as severe weather, physical attacks and cyber attacks,” Hoffman said. “The electrical grid is more than just infrastructure. It is an ecosystem of asset owners, manufacturers, service providers and government officials at federal, state and local levels, all working together to run one of the most reliable power grids in the world.
“Ninety percent of the nation’s energy infrastructure is in private hands, and 3,306 electricity providers serve approximately 148 million people through a network of 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.”
Barletta said that losing power from the energy grid for several days would be an inconvenience, but power remaining out for several weeks to a month or more means that the government needs to plan for increased public safety, water treatment, shelters or evacuations, fuel delivery for generators, and numerous other contingencies.
“I know we cannot ‘gold plate’ the system, but given the interdependency of electricity with our daily lives, it is crucial that we understand the risks and be prepared for the likely consequences possible from the failure of that system,” Barletta said.