Communication breaks down as grid attacks surge

Attacks on the U.S. power grid are on the rise, threatening to upend lives all across the country.

Yet a lack of communication between law enforcement and officials charged with keeping the lights on has left state and federal regulators largely unaware of the full extent of those threats, according to an analysis by POLITICO reporter Catherine Morehouse.

Regulators say that’s making it harder to safeguard the nation’s vast electricity system.

“It looks like they’re escalating if you look at the data,” said Jon Wellinghoff, former chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the nation’s top energy regulatory body. “But if you don’t have enough data, you can’t discern patterns and proactively work to stop these things from happening.”

The statistics are striking. During the first six months of this year, utilities reported 94 physical and computerized threats or assaults on electric grid infrastructure to the Department of Energy. That’s significantly higher than the 67 incidents reported in the first half of 2022.

The country is on track to meet or surpass last year’s record 164 major cyber and physical attacks.

The number of attacks is likely higher than DOE data suggests. Catherine found that several incidents that utilities had reported to homeland security officials did not show up in DOE data. No single agency keeps a complete record of such incidents. And law enforcement officers investigating alleged plots don’t necessarily alert grid operators and regulators.

Law enforcement officials have blamed much of the rise in grid assaults on white nationalist and far-right extremists, who use online forums to spread tactical advice on how to shut down power systems, according to the FBI.

To the people who run and regulate electricity plants and power lines, knowing what they’re up against is what matters the most.

When two suspects with neo-Nazi ties were charged with plotting to take down Baltimore’s power grid earlier this year, Maryland’s top utility regulator found out about the scheme on the news.

Jason Stanek, the then-chair of the state’s Public Service Commission, said Maryland regulators were “caught flat-footed,” not hearing a word from law enforcement before the news broke — or in the months afterward.

Original Article
Source: politico
Author: ARIANNA SKIBELL