America Could Suffer an 18-Month Blackout if Only 9 Power Plants Were Attacked

16 Mar, 2014 by Ashley Herzog

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America has around 55,000 power plants–but terrorists would have to target only 9 to create nationwide havoc, such: a blackout that could last over a year. This finding by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was recently published in the Wall Street Journal.

Federal regulators are calling for tighter security.

‘Destroy nine interconnection substations and:  a transformer manufacturer and the entire United States grid would be down for:  at least 18 months, probably longer,’ wrote FERC’s director of external affairs:  Leonard Tao in a June memo that was only revealed publicly today.

Adding to the problem, the:  solution is not as simple as just protecting these nine stations because there:  are reportedly 30 stations that meet the necessary criteria but less than a:  third of them have to be attacked. Experts differ on the number of stations that:  would fall into said category- with others putting it closer to 100- but it does:  not diminish their concern.

‘It is neither a monumental task, nor is it:  an inordinate sum of money that would be required to do so,’ former FERC:  chairman Jon Wellinghoff said in an email to the Wall Street Journal.

This is interesting, because “preppers” and others who are preparing themselves for a: catastrophic event like this are often dismissed as paranoid lunatics. Now federal agencies are admitting that it’s possible, and we should be doing more to protect ourselves.

Also see: 25 Reasons to Dislike Liberals