The threat of cyberattacks on the U.S. power
grid should be dealt with by a single federal agency, not the welter of
groups now charged with the electric system's security, researchers at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported on Monday.
While acknowledging there is no absolute
insurance against such attacks, the MIT researchers said a single U.S.
agency would be better able to address the problem than the disparate
federal, state and local entities responsible for various aspects of
safeguarding the power grid.
In a report on the future of the U.S.
electric grid, through 2030, the team recommended that the federal
agency should work with industry and have the appropriate regulatory
authority to enhance cybersecurity preparedness, response and recovery.
To cope with an expected increase in
renewable sources such as wind and solar power, where energy is often
generated far from the densely populated areas where it is used, the
panel recommended granting more authority to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission to site transmission facilities that cross state
lines.
Other recommendations include:
- Utilities with advanced metering
technology should start the transition to customer prices that reflect
the time-varying costs of supplying power, to improve the grid's
efficiency and make rates lower.
- The electric power industry should fund
research and development in computational tools for bulk power systems,
methods for wide-area transmission planning, procedures for responding
to cyberattacks and models of consumer response to real-time pricing.
- To improve decision-making, more detailed
data about the bulk power system, results from "smart grid"
demonstration projects and other measures of utility cost and
performance should be compiled and
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