60 Minutes had a segment on how easy it is to bring down our power grid.

[C Moon]

I believe they said only 9 substations across the country would need to be knocked out, to bring down all the power across the U.S.

They could knock them out either digitally, or with planes, bombs, drones, etc.

Now that it appears Russian banks have tanked, putin may want his revenge (that was my line, not 60 Minutes).

Very scary stuff.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/america-electric-grid-60-minutes-2022-02-27/

[Raine]

1. I saw that, doesn't make a person feel very confident

at all.

[C Moon]

3. Agreed!

[elleng]

10. Seems the 'system' may be too diversified to make 'cure' easy,

but may also make 'total blackout' unlikely. ((Too bad my husband, who had govt regulatory familiarity with it, is deceased.)

[BGBD]

4. I bet I can survive without power

longer than Putin can without money.

[C Moon]

6. Love it!

[elleng]

5. *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. . .

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.'>>>

[C Moon]

7. Wow! Yes I recall that, but it didn't quite sink in until now.

[electric_blue68]

8. I'm sending white light (protection) to the US power grid, and water, sewage pipes...

reminding those who know this stuff

It doesn't hurt to try try it even if you don't believe it. 👍

[C Moon]

9. Awesome!

[electric_blue68]

11. Aw, ty

[shanti]

12. This is my biggest worry

Power grid going down. Bottom line stuff.

[C Moon]

13. And the MAGA nuts would love it.

[Totally Tunsie]

14. Not to be an alarmist, but I wonder if it might be prudent

to withdraw a decent amount of cash - say $1,000+ - to have on hand in the event of an attack on the grid. Nothing would be operable - no ATM, no credit card approvals, no registers. Cash will be the rule of the hour.

Those who lived through the northeast's Blizzard of '76 will recall the scenario of several days without power, as well as the Texans who recently endured the same. For example, grocery store registers wouldn't operate so all orders were rung up on hand calculator. Couldn't use your credit card, nor get cash from the in-store ATM. If you didn't have cash, no purchases could be made.

I routinely do this anyway at the beginning of hurricane season each year, and make sure to keep the cash on hand through the winter. Think I might just add a bit to my at- home stash "just in case".

[C Moon]

15. Thanks. I'm going to do that. We have some but not much cash on hand.