(WWJ) – What would happen if our power grid went down for an extended period of time?
That’s the topic of “Grid Down, Power Up,” a new documentary film by Texas resident David Tice, who calls grid failure “a real and imminent threat.” One that could be a “devastatingly deadly occurrence leading to life-threatening shortages of heat, food, and water” if protective measures are not taken.
WWJ’s Erin Vee spoke with Tice, who said the recent attacks on power substations in Washington and Carolina – as well as becoming a grandfather and other threats to the grid – are the inspiration behind his film.
“I wanted to make sure that our critical civilian infrastructures stay safe because one of the threats that we talk about in the film is a geomagnetic disturbance, or a solar storm,” he said. “And we know one of these is going to come, with 100% certainty, sometime in the next 30, 50, 70, 100 years. And I know my grandkids are gonna be alive then and I might be dead before that happens, but this critical vulnerability needs to be fixed and it’s very, very fixable.”
Tice says the biggest threat to the grid is probably cyber attacks, and noted he was alarmed when Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm acknowledged on a Sunday morning talk show that adversaries would be able to shut down our grid.
“There are solutions. One, we need better regulations. We can’t just allow the utilities to regulate themselves,” Tice said. “There is equipment that can be installed in our substations and generation statements that will protect our grid from various forces. We should require stronger cyber security regulations because right now they are not strong enough and essentially public utilities can be utilizing old, old versions of software that is very, very prone to malware and intrusion.”
When asked whether one of those solutions could be clean energy, Tice said, “no, it’s really not.
“People talk about wind and solar, and although that sounds great on paper, some of the solar and wind, because it’s not dispatchable and it essentially comes when it comes, it actually can make the grid a little less stable,” he said.
There is a preview of the documentary currently on the “Grid Down, Power Up” website and the film will be fully available on Jan. 18, according to Tice. He’s encouraging the public to check it out and become active in the quest to protect the grid, including by contacting lawmakers. More info on how to get involved can be found under the “participate” tab on the film’s website.
Related
Related
