New ISIS threat: America's electric grid; blackout could kill 9 of 10

There are three main grids, and all of them need work but 9/10 dead because the electricity goes out? I give Americans more credit than that.

Here is some info on the three. Texas would probably fare the best. IMO.


sites.google.com...


If the electricity goes out I think the biggest problem would be water. We use a lot of it. Everything else could be overcome with a little common sense.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

This vulnerability is because we don't have a single, unified system.

If we had a single, unified system, we wouldn't have limited choke points that are called critical substations. We would have a typical grid systems with almost unlimited, on the fly, redistribution and management available at all times.

a reply to: DrMescalito

That would depend entirely on how coordinated the enemy is. To be completely honest, it wouldn't be that hard to coordinate disruption to all 30 within 1 hr of start. Well, significantly easier than coordinating the impact of multiple planes into one area...

Here is a link to the wikipedia page for the 1965 Northeast Blackout
It covered a large area and was caused by one improperly set relay at one power generating station.
I post this as proof that large areas can be affected by a very small malfunction. In the case above the electrical grid infrastructure was affected very little, but millions were without power. Imagine if a terrorist group launched a coordinated attack against infrastructure.
The 1977 blackout that occurred in NYC was caused by 2 lightning strikes. There was widespread looting, with 550 police officers injured and over 3,700 people arrested.

originally posted by: Lysergic
Suh-weet, the doom is back on.

So should I buy some plastic and duct tape my house up?!

lol...just around your eyes and ears should be sufficient

No problem. I've got solar and food and water for 2 weeks plus plenty of blankets and winter clothing and enough propane to cook with for a couple of weeks. Got bikes, hiking boots and a motorcycle. I'm all set!

a reply to: peck420

We aren't vulnerable. But if you want to talk about vulnerability....it might be because our government was stupid enough to print a "Terrorists Tourist Guide" to weak points to blow up and create havoc.

www.abqjournal.com...

Federal energy regulators improperly allowed widespread access to a sensitive document that outlined specific locations where the nation’s electric grid is vulnerable to physical threats, a government investigator said Wednesday.

The document created by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should have been kept secret as a national security matter, Energy Department Inspector General Gregory Friedman said. Instead the information was provided in whole or in part to federal and industry officials in uncontrolled settings.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that a federal analysis indicated that a coordinated terrorist strike on just nine key electric transmission substations could cause cascading power outages across the country in each of the nation’s three synchronized power networks.

The report followed a comment by former FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff that an April 2013 attack on a California electric substation was terrorism. The FBI has said in repeated statements it had found no indications to back that up.

The attack, which involved snipping fiber-optic phone lines and firing shots into a PG&E substation near Metcalf, Calif., caused power outages. Millions of people were asked to conserve energy after power lines were damaged.

originally posted by: Wiz4769

Former top government officials who have been warning Washington about the vulnerability of the nation’s largely unprotected electric grid are raising new fears that troops from the jihadist Islamic State are poised to attack the system, leading to a power crisis that could kill millions.


So we have another to add to the pile of possible attacks, man they are ramping it up lately. I think we have known this could be a target, but could a group like ISIS really pull this off? Crash 11 stolen planes into big power plants??? Might as well start combining threats....affecting some areas, maybe, but I say no to the wide scale variety...

Sorry but I did laugh when I read this.

Everyone has known for a long time that the power grids are vulnerable so it is perfect for the U.S to create fear & panic over this. "Oh no, ISIS, who was created by the U.S, is going to attack the power grids. Quick, let's go into their country & bomb the hell out of them"

Just another excuse to get troops into another country they don't belong in.

originally posted by: neo96
a reply to: crazyewok

A nation wide power grid failure? Thats bad for everyone. Unemployed, the middle class, upper middle class, rich,super rich political class, bankers ect

There in lies the rub.

What is 'bad' for us. Is GOOD for them.

The more money they get to take.

The more power they get to take.

That is what the US government does, and it is the only thing it does 'well'.

Create problems to offer their 'solutions'.

While I can't stand ISIS or radicial Islamo fascists.

There is a greater 'enemy of the state'.

That is our/my own government.

But a complete power grid failure benefits no one.

A complete power grid failure would be national suicide. The politicians and co operate interests wont gain anything from the USA being plunged into the stone age.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Smells like a pot o honey to me... I'm giving these gov doofuses a lot of credit with that but for real... Leak the docs and then watch the chatter.. Might be a way to control where the hits happen. Power stations going boom wouldn't have a lot of initial casualties and if respond was top notch you could get away with very few if any at all.

Like I said, I'm being pretty optimistic here lol

a reply to: crazyewok

A majority of the most critical businesses in the nation (and even many non critical ones) have big diesel generators. We have a big Cummins diesel generator for our business. A power grid issue would definitely hurt. But if not destroyed to the point of needing weeks to repair, it could be managed through.

Would it go that smoothly, though? Probably not.

originally posted by: peck420

originally posted by: mindseye1609
It would take hundreds of attacks to knock the whole grid out.

It would take 30 critical substations, over a span of approx 72 hours, to drop the entire grid.

If that actually happens, it will take upwards of 18 months to get the entire grid back online, and that is assuming that water, oil, and gas continue to flow...which they wont, as they are electrical grid dependent for far longer than onsite backups can provide.

In the case of no power, water, oil, or NG, it would take between 24 and 36 months to reinstate a full grid.

What is the source of those facts?

a reply to: roadgravel

This from my quote above indicates it would take far less than 30 to create critical wounds. The rebuild times....who knows.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that a federal analysis indicated that a coordinated terrorist strike on just nine key electric transmission substations could cause cascading power outages across the country in each of the nation’s three synchronized power networks.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

The rebuild times....who knows.

That's what I was interested in.

Huge parts of the grid can go down with only a few prime spots failing. Check previous outages.

originally posted by: roadgravel
What is the source of those facts?

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Granted, they are even more pessimistic than I. They believe that 9 critical sub stations would shut it down, but I believe that they underestimate some of the resilience provided by having interconnections with Canada, which is why i have a significantly higher number.

originally posted by: Wiz4769

Former top government officials who have been warning Washington about the vulnerability of the nation’s largely unprotected electric grid are raising new fears that troops from the jihadist Islamic State are poised to attack the system, leading to a power crisis that could kill millions.

New ISIS threat: America's electric grid; blackout could kill 9 of 10

So we have another to add to the pile of possible attacks, man they are ramping it up lately. I think we have known this could be a target, but could a group like ISIS really pull this off? Crash 11 stolen planes into big power plants??? Might as well start combining threats....affecting some areas, maybe, but I say no to the wide scale variety...

Easy - the distribution network is right on the limit of capacity because governments never saw the need to build in extra capacity to handle failures:

globalnews.ca...

It's a similar situation to the national structure of the internet. Originally it was designed to be a triangular mesh of multiple connections so that if any one link or node failed, the remaining network would still carry on regardless. Unfortunately, penny-pinching by corporations led to this being pruned down to a "spanning tree", so that if any node failed, a whole segment of the internet could end up being cut off.

If there was ever going to be a major false flag attack (the only type these days) then the power grid would be a great place to start. 9/11 showed us that it is almost impossible to keep a fabricated story straight with the internet and even the MSM. Without power the only information Americans can receive is that given by their jailers.

Plus all you have to do is send a few agents to each station to cut it off and detain the staff. You don't have to "stage" an attack because once the power is out, the only news anyone is going to get about it is from a pre generated media briefing (see Sandy Hook) likely in the form of leaflets and megaphones.

a reply to: Wiz4769

I'm sorry y'all, BUT; I have extreme difficulty believing any of the drug cartels would shot themselves in the leg.

Seriously, if America gets "ravaged" like that, who will buy their drugs? Do y'all really think the drug cartels would destroy their own business? And, to what end?

No! ISIS is as much a danger to the drug cartels as they are to America.

originally posted by: TexasSeabee
a reply to: mindseye1609

If you take into consideration that they could have hundreds of attacks simultaneously then it would be very possible. But then it would not need to be all at once but more in waves. Hit several points and cause a panic and get response, hit more and cause chaos with less resources to respond, hit a little more and let the nation fight itself. When that all gets going establish your army and begin the fight.

You seem to forget. the only thing americans hate more than themselves are outsiders starting something. They tried to do a invasion americans will stop fighting each other and turn on the invaders. then after they are dead resume their battle with each other.

a reply to: Wiz4769

First, the article is wrong. The Mexican Cartels have WAY more money than ISIS. ISIS would never hire a cartel, it would be the other way around.

Second. There is no way the Cartel would want to knock out America's power. Sure, they go to war with the DEA on a regular basis but that doesn't mean they want to destroy America. In fact, I think if ISIS ever tried to team with the Cartel, they would find themselves on a one way trip to the "the soup man". (don't ask )

American drug addicts are the Cartel's #1 customer. They're the ones who provide BILLIONS not millions to the drug lords and any disruption to their cash flow by ISIS would mean certain death. I would love to watch that movie.

It wouldn't be the black-out that kills people.

Collateral damage is what will kill.

People will freak out, ransacking supermarkets and such. If it goes on long enough, houses will start being robbed. People will defend their families and properties with force.

Police presence will be thinly spread at first. The public trouble-makers will see to that.

Eventually the trouble may escalate to a point where more action will have to take place on the side of the police and other government departments.

Violence will increase. Disease and viruses may spread.

It doesn't take long for people to lose their cool.