| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Home Front: WoT | |
| WSJ: Terrorists Could Darken U.S. Power Grid | |
| 2014-03-18 | |
[Newsbusters] "The U.S. could suffer a coast-to-coast blackout if saboteurs knocked out just nine of the country's 55,000 electric-transmission substations on a scorching summer day, according to a previously unreported federal analysis," the Wall Street Journal's Rebecca Smith reported on the front page of Thursday's paper. A set of "coordinated attacks in each of the nations' three separate electric systems could cause the entire power network to collapse," Smith noted, citing "people familiar with the [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] research."
| |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #12 I came home and after going inside I flipped a wall switch. Nothing happened. So I flipped it on and off a bunch of times. A week later I got a postcard from a lady in Germany, saying, "Knock it off!" /paraphrasing Steven Wright |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2014-03-18 22:06 |
| #11 The Florida Keys still have an elderly generator they keep in tip top shape in case the Florida inter-tie is cut --- and it's happened. Everyone complied with the drastic use cut back and made it work. A few light bulbs, refrigerator, fan or TVeee. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-03-18 16:31 |
| #10 Our town has its own power plant that can run off of diesel or natural gas. They turn it on when the power grid goes down. Cool! |
| Posted by: bman 2014-03-18 15:38 |
| #9 This means they're interconnected? The hell it does. That's not what I wrote, and once again, your point of "connected" is at best tangential to the point of the article & my first post. The article itself says "separate electric systems". I NEVER lost power in August 2003. My city is connected to a different part of Ohio, and in 8/03 was an island of light in a sea of darkness. In 8/03 the tree did not fall on the power line. The line got hot, sagged, hit the tree down below & failed, which triggered the 2003 blackout. Had the trees been properly cut back, it might not have happened. With 20/20 hindsight, this lack of tree trimming was an accident waiting to happen. "Coast-to-coast blackout" is a phrase designed to catch attention. Two or more regional blackouts would be more than enough to cause severe economic damage. The enemy prides itself on coordinated attacks, especially in places few consider important. You have said many times on the Burg that you don't consider this issue important. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2014-03-18 13:13 |
| #8 @Ebbang - Something with the given narrative regarding the SW Blackout 2011 doesn't pan out. The San Onofre nuclear power plant is btwn LA and SD, yet both cites were dark. I'm not an electrical engineer, but I figure a flipped switch in AZ wouldn't affect the energy output of San Onofre. |
| Posted by: mossomo 2014-03-18 12:36 |
| #7 A couple of years back a power plant worker in Arizona flipped the wrong switch and a big part of southern California went dark. Well, that's what we get for relying on Arizona for our power. That's your NIMBYISM at work and we southern Californians are notorious NIMBYs. After all, that's what places like Arizona are for. But I don't mind. If we lose juice the computers won't work so I get a day off. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2014-03-18 11:51 |
| #6 the Whole Nation would go dark ummm, I believe the nation has already gone dark with the election and reelection of the Champ (I'm not referring to race). Just think of the TRILLIONS of dollars spent/eased on nothing, could have put the money to work on serious problems like this, and insured a brighter future for generations to come.... Ask yourself are you better off now or have we missed opportunities to correct a number of nagging problems in America...Just saying. |
| Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for tse Tung9076 2014-03-18 10:52 |
| #5 You lost juice, because a tree fell on the power line, This means they're interconnected? The hell it does. The very fact that power was out in a large area PROVES they're NOT interconnected, the Whole Nation would go dark if they were. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2014-03-18 09:35 |
| #4 We have a series of INDEPENDANT power grids, NOT interconnected. -- Your statement is not reassuring. I still remember the massive power failure in the Northeastern USA in August 2003, started by a too-tall tree a couple of miles from where I live. That alone was enough to cause major problems. "Darken US Power Grid" makes for a nice headline. -- The significance of this news item does NOT depend on whether or not the grids "connect" or are "interconnected". The article SAYS they are "separate". Damaging a few key points nationwide would cause huge problems. Years ago an acquaintance working as an electrician at the time came up a control panel in a public garage in NE OH, unlocked, unlabeled and unsecured. An AT&T office building was next door to the garage. After he made inquiries he was told this particular panel controlled a key chunk of the grid in the NE USA, and not to mess with it. If it was so important, why was it so vulnerable? He does not know if anything was later done to secure this point. I have noticed that since the grid failure in 2003, utilities in the Great Lakes area (at least) have been much stricter about trimming tree branches near power lines, to the point of neighbors complaining that their yard's scenery is being damaged, with lawsuits being filed to prevent tree trimming near power lines. -- The problem with even discussing this is that the vulnerabilities remain unless & until something is done about them. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2014-03-18 09:24 |
| #3 This crops up perioudicly. there's no way the US could be darkened, the power grids do NOT connect,(That's a common misconception, My grandson is a power lineman, And I WISH the lie wasn't repeated with such certainty.) We have a series of INDEPENDANT power grids, NOT interconnected. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2014-03-18 09:00 |
| #2 Appears, Texas, again, is on its own. Which in this case is probably a good idea. No mention of the pandering political philosophy of NIMBY which creates the situation. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-03-18 08:25 |
| #1 I wonder if Vlad is reading this report right now. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-03-18 06:00 |