The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) recently praised a new initiative from the power industry, called Grid Assurance, which seeks to improve power-grid resilience as the likelihood of extended power outages increases due to factors such as cyber attacks and terrorism, without relying on federal assistance.
Grid Assurance, which is being developed by a group of power companies, will store crucial equipment such as circuit breakers and large transformers in secure and undisclosed locations throughout the country. If a coordinated attack or natural disaster leads to an extended blackout, Grid Assurance will then be able to sell that equipment to participating utility companies to get the area back online.
While the U.S. has experienced power outages, they typically only last a few hours to a few days in duration and mostly localized, presenting an inconvenience rather than a threat. However, an extended outage of a week or longer would result in significant food spoilage, a limited ability to restock food supplies, limited access to health care and medicine, a limited ability to communicate, and significant evacuation and policing challenges.
The federal government has considered undertaking similar initiatives, but AEI praised Grid Assurance as an example of how the private sector can solve these problems without federal action.
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