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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric who wrote (1431278)	1/3/2024 2:17:45 PM
From: Broken_Clock	1 Recommendation Recommended By longz Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572033

60 Minutes - Newsmakers Vulnerable U.S. electric grid facing threats from Russia and domestic terrorists By Bill Whitaker February 27, 2022 / 6:57 PM EST / CBS News Ukrainians are facing the prospect of massive power outages, as Russian forces fight for control of areas that house vital parts of Ukraine's electric grid. If Moscow shuts down the grid, millions could be left without light, heat, refrigeration, water, phones and internet. The White House is monitoring our own critical infrastructure after two Department of Homeland Security warnings last month about threats to our grid. One noted Russia has proven its ability to use cyber attacks to shut down electric grids, and "compromised U.S. energy networks." We've been looking at the grid for months and were surprised to learn how vulnerable it is, and how often it's deliberately targeted. One attack, nine years ago, was a wake-up call for industry and government. On the night of April 16, 2013, a mysterious incident south of San Jose marked the most serious attack on our power grid in history. For 20 minutes, gunmen methodically fired at high voltage transformers at the Metcalf Power substation. Security cameras captured bullets hitting the chain link fence. Jon Wellinghoff: They knew what they were doing. They had a specific objective. They wanted to knock out the substation. At the time, Jon Wellinghoff was chairman of FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a small government agency with jurisdiction over the U.S. high voltage transmission system. Bill Whitaker: You were concerned enough that you flew out there? Jon Wellinghoff: That's correct. And I took two other individuals who train special forces, U.S. special forces. They train people to actually attack infrastructure. Jon Wellinghoff And what the former commandos found looked familiar. They discovered the attackers had reconnoitered the site and marked firing positions with piles of rocks. That night they broke into two underground vaults and cut off communications coming from the substation. Jon Wellinghoff: Then they went from these vaults, across this road, over into a pasture area here. There were at least four or five different firing positions. Bill Whitaker: No real security? Jon Wellinghoff: There was no security at all, really. They aimed at the narrow cooling fins, causing 17 of 21 large transformers to overheat and stop working. Jon Wellinghoff: They hit them 90 times, so they were very accurate. And they were doing this at night, with muzzle flash in their face. Someone outside the plant heard gunfire and called 911. The gunmen disappeared without a trace about a minute before a patrol car arrived. The substation was down for weeks, but fortunately PG&E had enough time to reroute power and avoid disaster. Bill Whitaker: If they had succeeded, what would've happened? Jon Wellinghoff: Could've brought down all of Silicon Valley. Bill Whitaker: We're talking Google, Apple; all these guys-- Jon Wellinghoff: Yes, yes. That's correct. Bill Whitaker: Who do you think this could have been? Jon Wellinghoff: I don't know. We don't know if they were a nation state. We don't know if they were domestic actors. But it was somebody who did have competent people who could in fact plan out this kind of a very sophisticated attack. The grid is a sprawling target. There are actually three in the U.S.: the eastern, western and Texas has its own. Most of us rarely notice substations. There are 55,000 across the country, each housing transformers, the workhorses of the grid. Inside these massive metal boxes, raw electricity is converted to higher or lower voltages. Should a transformer explode, like this one in Manhattan during Superstorm Sandy, the system is designed to trigger a localized, grid-preserving blackout. But if several sections of the grid go down at the same time, the shutdowns can cascade like dominoes. That's what set off the great Northeast Blackout in 2003, leaving 45 million Americans without power. A few months before the assault on Metcalf, Jon Wellinghoff of FERC commissioned a study to see if a physical attack on critical transformers could trigger cascading blackouts. Jon Wellinghoff: It was actually a very shocking result to us that there's very few number of substations you need to take out, in the entire United States, to knock out the entire grid. Bill Whitaker: Knock out the entire grid? Jon Wellinghoff: That's correct. Bill Whitaker: How many would it take to knock out putting the entire country in a blackout? Jon Wellinghoff: Less than 20. The report was leaked to the Wall Street Journal. It found the U.S. could suffer a coast-to-coast blackout if saboteurs knocked out just nine substations. Bill Whitaker: You are relaying this in a very measured way. I would think this would be quite alarming. Jon Wellinghoff: It was alarming. There's no question. It is alarming. Dr. Granger Morgan After the Metcalf attack, FERC pressed the utilities to harden defenses at their most critical substations – erect walls and sensors to prevent similar attacks – there's now a wall around Metcalf. But many substations remain vulnerable targets, like one we found in southern California that serves more than 300,000 customers - huge transformers protected by a chain link fence. Dr. Granger Morgan: Anybody who knows about power systems knows that the, the grid is physically spread all over the countryside. There are a lot of places that are vulnerable. Dr. Granger Morgan is a Carnegie Mellon University professor of engineering who chaired three National Academy of Sciences reports on the power grid for the U.S. government – the most recent in 2021. An earlier report on terrorism was classified for five years. Dr. Granger Morgan: We simply made a strong case that the grid was physically very vulnerable. Bill Whitaker: Why was there a specific report on terrorism and the grid? Dr. Granger Morgan: There were concerns about the possibility that a terrorist organization could attack the grid. And around the world there have been a fair number of attacks on grids. They have attacked with bombs, planes and drones. Russia's cyber attack on Ukraine's grid in 2015 knocked about 60 substations offline, leaving 230,000 people in the dark. The U.S. secretary of energy has said Russia could do the same thing here. Dr. Granger Morgan: In the report we did on the resilience of the power system we did argue that we needed an organization, probably DOE and Department of Homeland Security, to systematically look at all the kinds of vulnerabilities we have and then begin to figure out who could address each. In terms of resilience issues, there's nobody in charge. I mean, there's no single entity that has responsibility for everything. Mike Mabee: The U.S. electric grid is the largest machine in the history of mankind. It is a marvel of modern engineering. No one person owns or controls it. It's actually 3,000 different companies, both public and private sector, that own or operate little pieces of the electric grid. Mike Mabee is an Iraq war vet, a former cop and a self-taught grid security expert. By day he works for the government. In his spare time, he uncovers public information electric utilities would rather not see the light of day and publishes them on a website called "Grid Security Now." He is both fascinated and horrified by the grid. Mike Mabee Mike Mabee: I think everybody needs to be as alarmed as I am. We've had disasters in the past but they've generally always been regional in scale. What we've never had is a national-scale blackout, which is completely possible under some known threats such as the cyber threat, the physical security threat, or even extreme weather. And the U.S. public is completely unprepared to survive without the electric grid for any period of time whatsoever. So when he moved to Texas two years ago, he prepared for the worst, installing solar, wind and battery power. Mike Mabee: The whole system's 48 volts. Mabee's family survived last winter's deadly storm, hundreds of Texans perished. Mike Mabee: And the deaths were largely due to hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning because when people got cold they would do things like go into their car in the garage to try to stay warm. Mabee has become a thorn in the side of the federal government and utility companies. Mike Mabee: I filed a complaint about supply chain cybersecurity. I filed a complaint about physical security. I filed a complaint about the Texas blackout. Bill Whitaker: The government and the industry. They think you're an annoyance? Mike Mabee: I've been termed a "grid security gadfly," which I wear that as a badge of honor. One frequent target: the Department of Energy. Mabee told us the grid information the DOE puts out is confusing and dispersed. He said he spends hours trying to make sense of it all. Mike Mabee: There is a requirement that they report electric disturbance events. But the data from the Department of Energy is so bad. So, you know, I took it upon myself to do some data crunching. And what I found is that 38% of the electric disturbance events in the United States are due to physical attacks against the electric. Bill Whitaker: 38%? That's a lot. Mike Mabee: So in the past decade, there have been over 700 physical attacks against the U.S. electric grid. Many are copy cats of the Metcalf assault. In 2016, an eco terrorist in Utah shot up a large transformer, triggering a blackout. He said he'd planned to hit five substations in one day to shut down the West Coast. In 2020, the FBI uncovered a white supremacist plot called "lights out" to simultaneously attack substations around the country. Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall and Anne Neuberger Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall: We're seeing planning to disable the delivery of power to the American people. Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall is President Biden's homeland security advisor. We met with her and Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber. They told us the administration's infrastructure plans should help secure the grid, but acknowledge the threats are real. Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall: We have physical threats to the grid. We have natural threats to the grid. We have cyber threats to the grid. Neuberger came to the White House from the secretive National Security Agency, where she battled Russian hackers in cyberspace. Bill Whitaker: You said that you've been talking to private utility companies around the country about the potential for a cyber attack. What are you telling them? Anne Neuberger: We're sharing with them some of the context regarding how Russia and other countries use cyber in crisis or conflict. We've actively downgraded intelligence. We've taken any information we have about malicious software or tactics that the Russian government has used, shared that with the private sector with very practical advice of how to protect against it. Bill Whitaker: Isn't the problem that when it comes to the grid, there's nothing like the FAA or the Food and Drug Administration or the Securities and Exchange Commission? There's no one overall agency overseeing these, you said, 3,000 different utilities across the country? Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall: We don't have one system. We have several grids. We also have individual energy ecosystems in regions and states. And that's part of our strength because the resources for energy are different in different regions. And we have to acknowledge that we're not going to have a one-size-fits-all system. Bill Whitaker: You call it one of our strengths. But it also seems to be one of our vulnerabilities. Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall: Well, in my view, we can't impose the regulations that would-- you would be suggesting as a federal government. We can set standards and we are setting standards in a variety of arenas. Carnegie Mellon's Granger Morgan says what government, industry and law enforcement are doing doesn't meet the magnitude of the threat. Dr. Granger Morgan: What we need at this point is to get the White House to put all the key players together in a room to identify the biggest vulnerabilities and then take steps to reduce them. Bill Whitaker: I'm surprised that's not being done. Dr. Granger Morgan: It has not been done. And it needs to happen now. Produced by Graham Messick. Associate producer, Jack Weingart. Broadcast associates, Emilio Almonte and Eliza Costas. Edited by Craig Crawford.

To: Eric who wrote (1431278)

1/3/2024 2:19:00 PM

From: Broken_Clock

1 Recommendation

Recommended By
longz

Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 1572033

Anyone who majored in Electrical Engineering in college knows how the "grid" works.

Really? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you're FOS(as usual).

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



In office January 20, 2009 – November 25, 2013 Acting: January 20, 2009 – March 19, 2009
Barack Obama
Joseph T. Kelliher
Cheryl LaFleur
Jon B. Wellinghoff [1] May 30, 1949 (age 74) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Karen Galatz
4 children, 3 grandchildren
University of Nevada, Reno Howard University Antioch School of Law

Jon Wellinghoff
Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionPresidentPreceded bySucceeded byPersonal detailsBornSpouseRelations Alma mater Jon B. Wellinghoff (born May 30, 1949) is an American attorney who served as the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from 2009 to 2013. The FERC is a U.S. government agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. The FERC also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines and licenses hydropower projects.

Wellinghoff's work in energy-related fields has included renewable integration, plug-in electric vehicles, and the modernization of the American electric grid. In November 2013, Wellinghoff stepped down from his post as the 13th FERC chairman. [2]

Early life and education

Wellinghoff was born in Santa Monica, California, on May 30, 1949, and moved to Reno, Nevada, at the age of four. He attended the University of Nevada-Reno, earning a B.S. in mathematics in 1971. The following year he earned a master's degree in teaching mathematics from Howard University and stayed in Washington, D.C., to attend Antioch School of Law where he earned his J.D. in 1975.

Wellinghoff returned to Nevada where he would specialize in energy law for more than 30 years. In private practice, he focused exclusively on cases pertaining to renewable energy and energy efficiency, causes he continued to promote as FERC Chairman. He was the primary author of Nevada's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), one of two state RPS programs to receive an "A" rating from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Wellinghoff has also held a variety of positions in the public sector, providing legal counsel on energy issues to, among others, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, the Federal Trade Commission and the Nevada Public Utility Commission.

Consumer protection was another hallmark of Wellinghoff's career prior to joining FERC. In his hometown of Reno, he held the position of Deputy District Attorney in the Washoe County District Attorney's Consumer Fraud division. His work on behalf of consumers helped make him Nevada's first Consumer Advocate for customers of public utilities. In that role, he argued for the public in cases before FERC, the Nevada Supreme Court and what is now the Nevada Public Utility Commission.

CareerFERC commissionerIn 2006, Wellinghoff was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate as one of the five commissioners at the FERC.

As commissioner, Wellinghoff was influential in moving FERC towards prioritizing the removal of barriers to integration of renewable energy into the electric grid. He has been an advocate of "demand response" and "smart grid" technologies that will facilitate coordination and communication between electricity consumers and providers, allowing consumers to have greater control over their energy usage and the associated costs.

Wellinghoff was an early proponent of improving energy infrastructure to accommodate future demands from automobiles powered primarily by electricity. He coined the phrase "Cashback Car" in a contribution to the Brookings Institution publication, "Plug-In Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington?" In it, he envisioned a future where drivers not only save money by switching from gasoline but are paid by utilities for use of their batteries to provide and store electricity. Wellinghoff explained that while the necessary technology already exists, improvements to infrastructure will be needed to make the "Cashback Car" a reality.

In 2008, the Alliance to Save Energy honored Wellinghoff with its prestigious Charles Percy Award for Public Service. The non-profit group bestowed the award "in recognition of [his] decades of outstanding public service and his expertise and leadership on energy efficiency as the nation confronts the dual challenge of electricity supply security climate change."

During his time as commissioner, Wellinghoff also received the EnerNoc Thought Leadership Award at a summit on energy efficiency and the Award for Leadership in Demand Response from the U.S. Demand Response Coordinating Committee.

FERC chairmanOn March 19, 2009, President Barack Obama named Wellinghoff as FERC Chairman. Wellinghoff quickly established three top priorities for his term: the integration of renewable energy sources, including wind, solar geothermal and hydrokinetic energy, into the electric grid; the implementation of advanced technologies aimed at making the use and distribution of energy more efficient; and the promotion of demand-side energy practices, including real-time electricity pricing and the use of electric cars. All three of these priorities will emphasize improvements to the overall efficiency of the nation's energy infrastructure.

Wellinghoff has vowed to pursue his priorities through the implementation of regulatory practices that ensure a fair and competitive energy market, pointing out that it is through competitive energy markets that consumers will reap the full benefits of new technology.

To promote policies that will increase renewable energy and improve energy efficiency, Wellinghoff created a new office within the Commission: the Office of Energy Policy and Innovation. The office is tasked with providing leadership in the development and formulation of policies and regulations to address emerging issues affecting wholesale and interstate energy markets.

The potential of renewable energy resources to expand our energy supply while decreasing adverse environmental impact has been an interest of Wellinghoff throughout his career. Obstacles remain, however, to the full utilization of wind, solar, geothermal, and hydrokinetic energy. While these resources provide a growing share of America's energy, they remain hampered by their often remote proximity to major population centers and other impediments. Wellinghoff has made the integration of these resources into the energy market a key aspect of his agenda.

Renewable integration will also be facilitated by another of the Wellinghoff's priorities, the development and implementation of advanced broadband and digital technologies collectively referred to as "smart grid." This push to modernize the nation's energy infrastructure will allow consumers and providers to make more informed decisions about how they use electricity. Problems stemming from the variable nature of some renewable energy technologies would be reduced if grid operators could easily rely on alternatives when encountering high demand or unfavorable natural conditions.

On July 16, 2009, the Commission released a Smart Grid Policy Statement setting priorities for the adoption of new standards and practices that will best enable FERC to facilitate the widespread and expedited use of smart grid technology.

A major component of an effective smart grid will be improved demand response capabilities, the third of Wellinghoff's top priorities. Wellinghoff has labeled demand response the "killer app" for the smart grid. This form of enhanced, two-way communication would allow electricity providers to pay consumers to use less electricity. At times of peak demand (and peak prices) and other times of grid stress or need, consumers could respond by modifying their usage. Grid operators could, in turn, respond with more efficient management of available resources and avoid the high expenses associated with putting another power plant on-line to generate the electricity necessary to meet demand. Less wasted electricity would help lower prices for everyone and foster a more efficient and environmentally sustainable market. FERC's most recent assessment of the country's demand response potential concluded that peak demand could be reduced by as much 188 GW, or roughly 20%, by 2019.

Wellinghoff has worked to create a receptive environment for new and emerging energy technologies such as hydrokinetic energy. Under his leadership, the Commission has continued to collaborate with the Department of the Interior to incubate the growth of this technology. This partnership will facilitate the development of offshore hydrokinetic projects as well as wind and solar projects. Similarly, the Commission has signed agreements with states such as Maine and Washington that will help fast-track new projects while ensuring that associated environmental concerns are given careful agreement.

Under Wellinghoff's leadership the Commission issued FERC Order 745 on March 15, 2011, which prescribes how providers of demand response are to be compensated in the organized wholesale markets. On January 25, 2016, the Supreme Court upheld FERC 745, overruling the US Court of Appeals decision. [3] The Court affirmed that the FERC had jurisdiction over prices paid for wholesale demand response.

Jon Wellinghoff submitted his resignation to U.S. President Barack Obama on May 5, 2013, and remained in the post until November 25, 2013, when the president appointed his successor, Cheryl A. LaFleur. [4]

For his work with the Energy Storage Community he received the Energy Storage Association's 2014 Phil Symons Award at their 24th Annual Conference.

Stoel Rives LLPWellinghoff joined Stoel Rives LLP after leaving FERC in 2013. [5] His work there focused on assisting emerging energy technology firms (battery manufacturers, solar PV system developers and manufacturers, demand response providers, and advanced grid technology providers to name a few) with strategies and counsel as to growing their businesses and avoiding and/or removing barriers to market success. He also participated in numerous speaking engagements and keynote presentations for energy technology firms, trade associations and energy sector organizations. Topics included a look at our energy future, grid security, the rise of solar energy and distributed generation, the German energy experience, and advances in energy technology.

SolarCityWellinghoff served as SolarCity's Chief Policy Officer from April 2016 through April 2017. [6] Here he was responsible for recommending policy initiatives and interventions in state, federal, and other forums to support distributed energy resource products and services offered by SolarCity.

Grid Policy ConsultingIn April 2017, Jon opened GridPolicy, Inc. where as the CEO, he works to enable the intersection of policy and distributed energy technologies. [7] GridPolicy assists energy tech companies from start-ups to fully commercialized enterprises to get to market and expand markets by addressing critical policy barriers to business success.