1、Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS21958Updated February 4, 2005Government Activities to Protect the Electric Gridname redactedSpecialist in Energy PolicyResources, Science, and Industry DivisionSummaryThe electric ut
2、ility system is vulnerable to outages caused by a range of activities,including system operator errors, weather-related damage, and terrorist attacks. Themain risk from a successful terrorist attack against the electric power industry would bewidespread power outages lasting for an extended period o
3、f time. While the electricutility industry has the primary responsibility for protecting its assets, federal and stategovernment agencies also have been addressing physical security concerns. This reportprovides a description of initiatives within the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissionand the Depa
4、rtments of Energy, Homeland Security, and Defense to protect the physicaltransmission infrastructure. It will be updated as events warrant.The U.S. electric power system has historically operated at such a high level ofreliability that any major outage, caused by either sabotage, weather, or operati
