H-K

Hackers have attacked foreign utilities, CIA analyst says

In a rare public warning to the power and utility industry, a CIA analyst this week said cyber attackers have hacked into the computer systems of utility companies outside the United States and made demands, in at least one case causing a power outage that affected multiple cities. The remarks come as cyber attackers have made increasingly sophisticated intrusions into corporate computer systems, costing companies worldwide more than $20 billion each year, according to some estimates. Over the past year to 18 months, there has been "a huge increase in focused attacks on our national infrastructure networks. The U.S. electricity grid has always been vulnerable to outages. “Cybersecurity is a different kind of threat, however,” the commission’s chairman, said in a statement this week. “This threat is a conscious threat posed by a single hacker, or even an organized group that may be deliberately trying to disrupt the grid.”

Details Here: www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/ content/article/2008/01/18/AR2008011803277.html?hpid=moreheadlines

first published week of:   01/21/2008

Human error caused floriday outage

A blunder by a field engineer working alone at one of Florida Power & Light Co.’s (FPL) substations appears to have triggered the blackout that left at least two million Floridians without power on February 26. The FPL employee was trying to diagnose a problem with a piece of equipment in west Miami when he violated company policy by disabling two sets of relays - essentially fuse switches – that are designed to isolate electrical problems, the utility’s preliminary investigation revealed Friday. The employee then tested the equipment, sparking a short-circuit that dropped voltage across the state’s power grid. There is no indication that FPL’s systems or safety procedures contributed to the problem, FPL’s president said. FPL took steps this week, including refresher courses for field engineers, to make sure the problem does not happen again, he said. FPL will continue to investigate the incident with the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Details Here: www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2008/03/01/c1a_fpl_0 301.html

first published week of:   03/03/2008

Ilinois energy plant Challenge rejected

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appeals board has rejected a challenge to the Taylorville Energy Center slated for central Illinois, clearing the way for the coal plant to be built once it receives final legislative approval. The Sierra Club appealed the $2 billion plant last summer, arguing the state EPA did not do enough to limit the project's global warming emissions. But the federal regulators struck drown the appeal Monday, saying the Sierra Club raised its concerns too late in the review process. The plant is intended to turn Illinois’ high-sulfur coal into a synthetic gas for use in producing electricity and will become the state's first clean-coal plant to use Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle technology. Officials have said they hope the plant could begin operating as soon as 2012.

Details Here: www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5502764.html

first published week of:   02/04/2008

indiana's first commercial wind farm online

The 130-megawatt Benton County Wind Farm – Indiana’s first commercial power station fueled by the wind – went online this month near the Illinois state line. The $250 million project is the first of six Indiana wind farms in the works that will generate a combined 3,000 megawatts, and several other projects are in the planning stage. “We’re zooming from nothing to 3,000 megawatts in just a few years, but they’re just scratching the surface of the state’s potential,” said a spokesman for the Indiana Office of Energy and Defense Development.

Details Here: www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-inwindpower, 0,1308753.story

first published week of:   05/26/2008

Industry officials seek more federal control of power line siting

Several electricity industry executives are working on a plan to give the federal government more control over the transmission grid, which could strip from states some of their authority to site high–voltage interstate power lines. The vice president of federal affairs for ITC Transmission – who is also the president of the Working Group for Investment in Reliable and Economic Electric Systems, a coalition of transmission owners and operators – said last week that he is working on the plan with officials at the American Wind Energy Association and other industry executives. The objective of the plan is to circumvent some of the obstacles that are hindering an efficient and muchneeded expansion of the power grid, he said. The group plans to meet Wednesday to develop a plan that would help carry out a national strategy of connecting more wind energy projects, solar energy facilities, and other types of renewable energy resources with the grid, he said. Currently, siting delays and cost–allocation issues at the state level are slowing the effort to build more transmission lines for renewable resources, he said.

Details Here: /www.platts.com/Electric%20Power/News/8824977.xml?sub=Electric%20Power& p=Electric%20Power/News&?undefined&undefined

first published week of:   06/30/2008

--Page 1 of 2--

Volume 31

-->