The U.S. electric grid is aging and in need of billions of dollars of investment, having earned a D+ rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Despite significant advances in protective and self-healing technologies, the grid remains vulnerable to physical attack and natural disasters.

The list of resources below is intended to serve as a repository of best practices, Standards, white papers, and case studies that include information about how to make the electric grid more secure and resilient to natural and manmade disasters.

Reliability and Security Standards

• North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Physical Security Standard CIP-014 was developed in response to an order by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to set reliability Standards to mitigate physical security risks and vulnerabilities of the bulk power system.
• UL Standard for Bullet-Resisting Equipment (UL 752)

Case Studies

Substations

• DIS-TRAN Elevated Substations to mitigate risk from flooding
• ABB Substation Physical Security and Resiliency Initiative
• Substation Hardening, Security, and Monitoring Strategies for Critical Asset Protection
• Smart Thermal Cameras Protect Electrical Equipment
• PEPCO Presentation on Substation Physical Security Measures

Transformers

• Alstom's resin impregnated paper transformer bushings reduce the risk of fire in transformers

Microgrids

• New York Launches Massive Grid Hardening and Modernization Effort

White Papers and Reports

• Congressional Research Service: Physical Security of the U.S. Power Grid: High-Voltage Transformer Substations (June 17, 2014)
• Transmission and Distribution World: Hardening the System: To identify effective hardening opportunities, a system must be examined from underground facilities to structures, wires and vegetation (February 1, 2013)
• U.S. Department of Energy: Hardening and Resiliency: U.S. Energy Industry Response to Recent Hurricane Seasons (August 16, 2010)
• Electric Power Research Institute: Grid Resiliency
• Edison Electric Institute: Cyber and Physical Security
• National Electrical Manufacturers Association: Grid Resilience
• Utility Dive: The State of Physical Grid Security-2015

The list below contains some typical methods used for physically hardening the electric grid

Electrical Substations

• Redundant designs
• Spare equipment: offsite storage
• Card key-controlled access
• Tamper detection
• Thermal and high-definition cameras

Electrical Equipment

• Transformers
• Resin-impregnated bushings with composite housings
• Low oil alarms
• Induction hardening
• UL 752 Standard for Bullet-Resisting Equipment

• Switchgear: rugged enclosures
• Electrical Meters: guard rings

Department of Defense (DoD) documents (coming soon)