D.C. Blackout Shows Need to Secure the Grid

It was a pretty spectacular reminder of a fact most of official Washington tries to downplay, if not ignore: Our nation depends critically on electricity. If its availability is disrupted – even for brief periods, the impact can range from inconvenient to dangerous. Protracted, widespread disruptions would imperil the nation itself and many millions of its people.

Yesterday, parts of official Washington – including the White House complex and State Department – went dark for a time. Fortunately, the mechanical failure at a single Maryland transformer substation triggered rapid work-arounds and back-up generators kicked in.

We must not respond to this evidence of a yawning vulnerability with complacency and inaction. Physical sabotage, cyber attacks, electromagnetic pulse weapons and intense solar storms threaten extensive, enduring blackouts. We must secure the grid now.