LVXXU

Distribution hardening projects are separately planned on a utility-by-utility basis; data are not systematically
reported, which makes any central coordination difficult in the event of a large-scale regional or national
problem. Resilience project metrics and analysis methods typically are defined on a locality-by-locality basis,
starting with risk-assessment modeling of, for example, flooding or wind damage. The analysis may incorporate
specific critical infrastructure, population, vulnerability, and duration to quantify the risk reduction and
economic cost-benefit of alternative resilience projects. 57 Methods for analyzing the potential economic impact
of weather-related damage is a topic of ongoing development, 58 and data for performing this analysis can be
insufficient. 59
The power industry’s resilience-related risk assessments largely focus on physical and cybersecurity—rather
than extreme weather and climate change—and currently rely on information from the Federal Government.
Incomplete or ambiguous threat information may lead to inconsistency in physical security among grid
owners, inefficient spending of limited security resources at facilities (e.g., to address overestimated
threats), or deployment of security measures against the wrong threat. For example, while physical barriers
could protect against one particular type of attack, incorporation of better communication technologies
could simultaneously reduce vulnerabilities to multiple forms of risks, such as physical and cyber threats,
geomagnetic disturbances, electromagnetic pulses, and natural disasters. 60 The Federal Government can fill
gaps in creating data sets, tools, and assessments that provide a more complete and robust analytical approach
to measuring resilience needs and investments. It can also step in where the utility industry is not wellpositioned
to make significant investments—such as where new, innovative technologies can be introduced,
but they face barriers to cost recovery in the rate base.
Administration Initiatives on Electric Grid Resilience
The Build America Investment Initiative. This initiative is an interagency effort led by the Departments of Treasury and
Transportation to promote increased investment in U.S. infrastructure, particularly through public-private partnerships. The
Department of Energy has participated in the effort and included several recommendations related to resilience of the electricity
sector that focus on data, information, and analytical tools. The initiative establishes an electricity resilience information portal
at the Department of Energy to provide data, tools, and best practices to support investment in resilient electricity infrastructure;
improve electricity sector data availability and data standardization; develop analytical tools to evaluate the potential impacts
of climate change in assessments of electricity resilience investments; create standard metrics to account for the benefits
of resilience in electricity infrastructure investment decisions; and establish a resilience course to educate state and local
stakeholders on robust decision making related to new infrastructure.
Coordination and Outreach to Reduce Vulnerabilities of the Grid to the Loss of Large Power Transformers. The
Administration has made it a priority to work with industry to identify challenges and create solutions for increasing the security
and resilience of the electric grid, including the development of an integrated national plan to mitigate challenges pertaining to
aging power transformers, the cyber and physical security of transformers, and the vulnerabilities of large power transformers.
The Administration is working with trade association leadership and the private sector to improve the coordination of existing
and planned transformer-sharing programs and to identify solutions for transformer replacement capabilities as part of its
efforts to enhance the resilience of the Nation’s electric grid. These efforts will be part of a formal national strategy (planned for
release in 2015) for strengthening the security and resilience of the entire electric grid for threats and hazards. In its Recovery
Transformer Program, the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate has developed, tested, and
demonstrated a prototype rapidly deployable extra high-voltage transformer that is transportable by road and can quickly be
installed within several days of an incident.
Enhancing Grid Resilience to Geomagnetic Storms. Ensuring that the United States is prepared to respond to and
recover from severe space weather storms is a priority for the Administration. In November 2014, the Administration established
an interagency Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation Task Force. The Task Force is developing a National
Space Weather Strategy with high-level strategic goals for improving forecasting, evaluating impacts, and enhancing national
preparedness (protection, mitigation, response, and recovery) across all economic sectors to a severe space weather event.
QER Report: Energy Transmission, Storage, and Distribution Infrastructure | April 2015 2-15