Off the Grid News – by Tara Dodrill
Power grid vulnerabilities are finally garnering some attention by government officials.
An electrical grid joint drill simulation is being planned in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Thousands of utility workers, FBI agents, anti-terrorism experts, governmental agencies, and more than 150 private businesses are involved in the November power grid drill.
The downed power grid simulation will reportedly focus on both physical and cyber attacks. The antiquated electrical system in the United States has been one of the most neglected pieces of integral infrastructure.
The EMP Commission, created by Congress, released a report in 2008 calling for increased planning and testing, and a stockpiling of needed repair items.
The SHIELD Act, which is stalled in Congress, is the first serious piece of legislation in many years to attempt to address the vulnerabilities of the power grid in. As previously reported by Off The Grid News, a recent American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) report gave the power grid a “D+” when grading various pieces of infrastructure and public services in the United States.
The disaster drill is being described as a crisis practice unlike anything the real power grid has ever experienced. The GridEX II drill Nov. 13-14 will focus primarily on how governments will react if the electrical grid fails and, for instance, the food supply chain collapses.
American utility companies are responsible for running approximately 5,800 power plants and about 450,000 high-voltage transmission lines, controlled by various devices which have been put into place over the past decades. Some of the utility companies which oversee the power grid reportedly use “antique computer protocols” which are “probably” safe from cyber hackers,” The New York Times reported.
The Times said experts call the power grid the nation’s “glass jaw.” Even the military gets 99 percent of its power the same way everyday citizens get it – from commercially run companies.
“If an adversary lands a knockout blow, [experts] fear, it could black out vast areas of the continent for weeks; interrupt supplies of water, gasoline, diesel fuel and fresh food; shut down communications; and create disruptions of a scale that was only hinted at by Hurricane Sandy and the attacks of Sept. 11,” The Times said.
Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Curt Hebert stated that if the nation fails at electricity, “we’re going to fail miserably” at everything else.
Hebert also noted that during prior power grid drills, the scenario assumed the system would be up and running again relatively quickly after an attack. This drill will assume it’s out much longer.
If the power grid fails, a lack of electricity and food delivery are only the first wave of troubles facing the American people. Police could face major problems with civil unrest. Of course, there also would not be any electric heating or cooling, which easily could lead to many deaths depending on the season.
A 2012 report by the National Academy of Science said terrorists could cripple the nation by damaging or destroying hard-to-replace components, some of which aren’t even made in the United States.
“Of particular concern are giant custom-built transformers that increase the voltage of electricity to levels suited for bulk transmission and then reduce voltage for distribution to customers,” The Times said in a summary of the report. “… Replacing them can take many months.”
Said Clark W. Gellings, a researcher at the Electric Power Research Institute, “I don’t think we pay quite enough attention to the technology fixes that would allow us to make the power system more resilient.”
http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/08/28/power-grid-down-drill-to-be-conducted-by-us-government/#
How about they just do these drills on their DAMN bases and see how the people react, rather than put countless lives at risk, you F**KING ZIONIST/COMMUNIST BASTARDS!!
How can the people be so ignorant and dumb about this all. How can they just go around not do something about this? IT F**KING PISSES ME OFF!! DAMN SHEEPLE!!!!
AND WHERE THE HELL IS THE US MILITARY WHO SWORE AN OATH TO PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION??? ARREST OBAMA AND HIS ENTIRE WHITE HOUSE STAFF FOR HIGH TREASON!!! DO YOUR DUTY, DAMMIT!!! If you need help, WE THE PEOPLE will gladly assist.
Hmmmm,
Wouldn’t it be convenient if a “cyberattack” from say,… aaaaaa,….. hmmmm,….. say,… Syria!,.. yeah that’s it!,… what if a “cyberattack” from Syria suddenly knocked out whole portions of the electrical grid here in the US???
What a coincidence that would be!!!
Lets see,.. no power here, so people would NOT be able to us the internet, food disruptions, financial system disruptions,… civil unrest,… and of course, now we have “proof” that syria “attacked” the US, so that then gives Criminal Obama the ability to claim he can use the War Powers Act to launch an immediate attack on Syria!!!! (Luckily,.. we just happen to have entire naval task forces off of Syria’s coast,.. WITH MISSILES!!!)
How convenient all that would be,.. wouldn’t it.
JD – US Marines – I smell a US Gov’t Black Op about to be unleashed on the American people which may include a Grid-Down Scenario, &/or,.. chems used here. Stand by for the WW3 starting pistol to be fired.
Well, not quite 3 days of darkness, but what else will the Cabal be doing under the cover of darkness they don’t want us to know about? That’s my question.
JD painted a good scenario. Let the Christians know about the drill so they don’t freak out. We need everyone to remain calm. Of course, it’s a whole different story if this drill goes live.
Oh … and don’t forget we have had Russian and Chinese armed nuclear subs parked off of both the East and West coasts for years waiting for the opportunity to engage.
. . .
I wondered the same thing as you are writing…..
when I read the headlines of the piece…..
I keep thinking…there is yet…a grain of sense remaining in congress
although they have proven themselves so absolutely worthless for so many decades……..
in the end their lives are at risk also……..just maybe they will wake up and put the heavy foot down..upon this madness…….
So. The US and Mexico AND CANADA–in November, when you know it can get very cold in most of Canada (and, oh yeah, Alaska! as well as the upper midwest and places like Buffalo, NY)–in November???
False flag? This one may be the mother of them all!
This does make me wonder about this. Every time a false flag event happens it always turns out that there was a drill taking place at the same time.
A lot of folks, including myself, keep saying if the gov’t is holding a drill get the heck out of there. But this is a drill most folks can’t escape from if it goes live.
The government is going to do another drill. How many drills has the government done that has gone to total shit. I agree with everyone that this is a huge false flag op.
Here’s a scenario, lets shut all the power of for 2 days and under the cover of darkness Russia and China will come across the boarders undetected. The government will ask everyone to stay indoors, stay off the roads and if they see any military vehicles on the highways to disregard them because it’s a United Nations drill.
We just welcomed an invasion on the soil of the United States with open arms.
I know this sounds messed up but look what the government has done in the past. I don’t trust those pr#@ks at all, lying scumbags.
Gear up my friends..
Right you are JGO!,… right you are. – JD
Maybe I’ve seen too many movies, but the drill would be a perfect opportunity for a group/government to gain access to the U.S. electrical infrastructure and place local area EMPs at power sub-stations across the U.S. The drill would also allow them to confirm they have access via internet or satellite…for the purpose of a synchronized pulse in the future.
This explains the recent article about how all the emergency response training should be completed by October 1st.
I agree and the number one impediment for us all will b downed communication so we cannot communicate with each other. There is increased safety in numbers, but if there are no tools working to communicate then mass chaos and panic will develop quickly!!!
Hams tend to be on battery backup.
If you see any military driving under a blackout… use your judgment. I for one can(am) and will be on patrol.