The East Coast electric grid's slow recovery from Hurricane Sandy highlights the shortcomings of the overburdened utility system and its susceptibility to damage from a different kind of surprise threat: terrorist attacks, especially hackers, notes one risk manager.
A report released by the National Research Council's (NRC) Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, in conjunction with the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), shows that a terrorist attack on the U.S. electric delivery system could cause massive blackouts and cost the country billions, even more than what was triggered by the unprecedented storm.
"Power system disruptions experienced to date in the United States, be they from natural disasters or malfunctions, have had immense economic impacts," says M. Granger Morgan, professor and head of the department of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
