For the Record': A Simple Attack Could Collapse the Grid

The United States electrical grid is in danger of a catastrophic collapse. Experts say that if terrorists hit “the foundation stone” of the grid, America as we know it today, would no longer exist.

Extra high-voltage (EHV) transformers are used to conduct electricity over long distances, but they are costly and can take years to build.  A 2013 attack on the transformers at an electrical substation in California resulted in $15 million worth of damage; but more important, the attack nearly shut down the entire Silicon Valley.

Following that attack, a government investigation exposed a shocking vulnerability in the U.S. electrical grid.  The report revealed that similar strikes on one of nine electrical substations in the U.S. could plunge the entire country into a blackout for up to 18 months.