People, Technology, and Systemic Risk in the Electric Grid
Services: Risk Assessment · Recovery & Resilience · Research & Evaluation
THE CHALLENGE
I began studying the electric grid as a critical infrastructure postdoctoral scholar at Stanford. The U.S. bulk electric system is arguably the largest machine on the planet, linking more than 3,000 utilities, 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, and the grids of Canada and Mexico. Its risks can be hard to detect and, once realized, cascade across systems and sectors at tremendous speed. Grid risk management tends to focus on engineering, yet the grid is a sociotechnical system: people, organizations, institutions, and norms shape reliability and resilience as much as the technology does.
THE APPROACH
- Interviews with 60 grid owners, operators, and regulators on cybersecurity risk and regulation
- Case studies of cascading failure, including the 2021 Texas blackouts during COVID-19, in partnership with industry
- Analysis of options for the U.S. Department of Defense to deter attacks on the power grid
- Documentation of how energy companies prepared for hurricanes during the COVID-19 pandemic
THE OUTCOME
A framework for assessing the impact of grid cybersecurity regulation, evidence on the expertise needed to manage sociotechnical risk, guidance for the Department of Defense on deterring grid attacks, and documented resilience strategies for compound crises.
Further reading
Regulating risks within complex sociotechnical systems: Evidence from critical infrastructure cybersecurity standards Science and Public Policy
Beyond regulatory capture: Coproducing expertise for critical infrastructure protection Regulation & Governance
Disaster risk creation and cascading disasters within large technological systems: COVID‐19 and the 2021 Texas blackouts Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management
Deterring Attacks Against the Power Grid: Two Approaches for the U.S. Department of Defense RAND Corporation
Maintaining critical infrastructure resilience to natural hazards during the COVID-19 pandemic: hurricane preparations by US energy companies Journal of Infrastructure Preservation and Resilience