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When was the last time you thought about how the power stays on? Probably not since you lost power in a storm. We take it for granted that the electricity and natural gas will flow. In today’s world, electricity and gas are a core foundation of the economy and of society, making energy one of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors in the United States and around the globe. Electric and gas utility operators continually think about maintaining reliable delivery of service to meet the ever-growing demand and the changing operational landscape, including changes in security risks to the physical facilities that generate and deliver electricity and gas.
Critical infrastructure comes with increased security risks, including attacks on physical facilities. Physical threats like vandalism, mischief theft, equipment damage from gunshots, and other incidents are increasing at substations. According to data from the US Department of Energy, there were 163 reported incidents of physical attacks, vandalism, suspicious activity, and sabotage at US substations in 2022, an increase from 57 incidents reported in 2018. This increase is prompting a focused effort on addressing the challenge of physical threats and on considering new ways to monitor and protect substations.