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6 Restoring Grid Function After a Major Disruption
Pages 110-133

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From page 110...
... Air Force to transport bucket trucks Following a large-area, long-duration outage, electricity by air from California to New York in response to Supersystem operators set priorities and work across organiza- storm Sandy. Effective restoration rests on the collaboration tional boundaries to bring the system back online as quickly and cooperation of myriad organizations and individuals as possible through a series of restoration activities.
From page 111...
... areas was a challenge, and crews were sometimes delayed When a physical disruption of the power system occurs, because they could not reach affected areas. it is important that utility repair crews be able to gain rapid Beyond identifying a specific threat to the electricity access to damaged substations and other facilities so they system, key utility CEOs and federal decision makers meet can safely isolate and de-energize hazardous components, through the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council to retain and gain access to emergency communication equipplan for national-level incidents and maintain open commu- ment and supplies, promptly assess damage, and start the nication channels (ESCC, 2016)
From page 112...
... For example, utilities operating along the Gulf Coast have a long history Recommendation 6.1: The Department of Homeland of anticipating and recovering from large storms that cause Security in collaboration with the Department of Energy extensive damage, and their restoration plans and activities should redouble efforts to work with utilities and national, reflect this history. In the week before Hurricane Katrina, state, and local law enforcement to develop formal arrange- Southern Company and its operating subsidiaries in Missisments (such as designating selected utility personnel as sippi and Alabama spent more than $7 million pre-staging "first responders")
From page 113...
... The committee notes and capacity levels for new black-start units. that progress has been made with the ongoing efforts of the The restoration process is highly dependent on the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, which provides topology of the transmission and distribution networks, a good framework for expanded coordination and sharing which determine the sequence of restoration starting from of best practices.
From page 114...
... damage assessment -- is considerably easier when the grid's Emergency management and restoration plans should cyber monitoring and control systems are intact and operainclude the owners of distributed energy resource assets, tional, compared to a potential cyber attack that diminishes including owners with generation, storage, or load-control a utility's situational awareness. In contrast, a strong, slowcapabilities.
From page 115...
... , aerospace education for youth 3  FAA Section   333 "grants the Secretary of Transportation the authority and the general public, and cadet programs for teenage youth. In addi- to determine whether an airworthiness certificate is required for a unmanned tion, CAP has recently been tasked with homeland security and courier aircraft system to operate safely in the National Airspace System." As of service missions.
From page 116...
... For example, during and immedi ately after Superstorm Sandy, many individuals sent images Recommendation 6.5: With convening support by the of downed lines, trees, and damaged equipment to utilities. Department of Energy, the electricity industry should proac- If this information were automatically geotagged and time tively engage the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure stamped, it could have provided valuable information to aid that the rules regulating unmanned aerial vehicle opera- in restoration activities.
From page 117...
... Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery constructing a catalogue of spare high-voltage transformers. System explained the following: DOE recently released a request for information to gather input on setting up a national transformer reserve, and eight The large power transformers in generating station switch private energy companies have launched Grid Assurance,™ yards and major substations are vulnerable to terrorist attack an independent company that will stockpile transformers FIGURE 6.3  Three ABB single-phase 345 kV compact replacement transformers being moved from St.
From page 118...
... Such an outcome could result in negligible durability and resilience of this technology will have to be net improvement of spare equipment capability for the nation, established over time and restoration plans adjusted accordrather than just shifting from industry-purchased stockpiles to ingly. Solid-state power electronics will offer greater operagovernment-purchased stockpiles.
From page 119...
... If such devices can be Detect developed with standardized components, they could play an important role in expediting restoration of the grid when One important difference between a cyber failure and a physical damage has occurred to LPTs. physical disaster is the tightly defined nature of the cyber attack.
From page 120...
... Another example of the the impact extends to the point of requiring replacement of potential for anomaly detection is reclosers, which control substantial equipment. the connection to a lateral power line and do not open or close A breach of a utility industrial control system (ICS)
From page 121...
... Restoration may also require software and to share resources for cyber restoration and compensate data: reference disks of software, often termed "gold disks," for their use -- that is, cyber mutual assistance agreements are typically required, as are backups of the most current analogous to traditional MAAs -- are nascent. Working with
From page 122...
... industry. Recommendation 6.9: The Department of Energy and the Restore and Replace Department of Homeland Security should work with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, indepen- With the spread of malware contained to the extent posdent system operators, and regional transmission organiza- sible, the work shifts to restoring components to a clean state tions to develop a model for large-scale cyber restoration.
From page 123...
... being pursued by DOE, with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the lead, and by the National Rural Electric Recommendation 6.10: The Department of Energy and Cooperative Association, with its Simba project. the Department of Homeland Security should work with the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council and utili Energize ties to enhance the sharing of cyber restoration resources (i.e., cyber mutual assistance agreements)
From page 124...
... should revise its standards to include the appropriate use of Some states are considering whether and, islanded distributed generation and microgrid resources for local islanding in emergency recovery operations. if so, how to support the development of Utilities should re-examine and, if necessary, revise their distribution automation plans and capabilities in microgrids as well as the role of the local light of the possible need to selectively serve critical loads during extended restoration efforts.
From page 125...
... As noted in Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery use in cyber configuration and testing. There is, to date, no System, a terrorist attack carried out in a carefully planned flexible, peta-scale utility industrial control system simulator way by people who knew what they were doing could "deny that offers sufficient fidelity for testing intrusion detection, large regions of the country access to bulk system power anomaly detection, software defined network controls, and for weeks or even months.
From page 126...
... tem's vulnerability to a range of natural hazards. OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE RESTORATION Recommendation 6.13: Efforts by the Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security, in con Other Technologies and Operations That Improve junction with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Restoration the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, and the electric industry, should be redoubled to reduce the vul- Though many of the technologies discussed in Chapter 4 nerability of the power system to terrorist attacks (paying are intended to reduce the likelihood and extent of outages, particular attention to topics in Table 6.1 that have not yet many of these technologies also directly aid in the restoration been adequately addressed)
From page 127...
... These elements following sections describe a general process for collecting must be part of the learning process. Based on the recommeninformation on the failures and shortcomings in disaster dations of the interviews, special engineering studies should restoration.
From page 128...
... system measurement technology, it is becoming much easier to collect data with microsecond-class measurement accuracy, Recommendation 6.15: The North American Electric which is often of ample temporal resolution to be able to Reliability Corporation, the Federal Energy Regulatory accurately determine the sequence of events. Commission, and relevant regional- and state-level orga Once the sequence of events is organized, it is valuable to nizations should improve the investigation process of separate it into slower events leading up to the cascading fail- large-scale losses of power with the objective of disure and faster events that are occurring during the cascading seminating lessons across geographical and jurisdictional failure itself.
From page 129...
... Accessed July 11, 2017. NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation)
From page 130...
... be affected. General restoration plans can be made more specific, and mutual aid agreements and emergency operations centers can be activated.
From page 131...
... Earthquakes Winter Storms Area impacted: Limited to extensive Area impacted: Regional Damage to aboveground assets: Poles, towers, substations Damage to aboveground assets: Lines, poles, towers Damage to customer assets: Limited to extensive Damage to customer assets: Limited Limits to access and mobility: Major blockage Limits to access and mobility: Potential blockage Event warning: Seconds to minutes Event warning: Days Risk assessment: Difficult Risk assessment: Straightforward Rate of propagation: Fast Rate of propagation: Slow Plan Earthquake risk is well mapped, and utilities routinely consider Utilities operating in regions subject to winter storms often design earthquake risk in siting and planning processes. Methods for systems components, such as transmission towers and lines, to earthquake-survivable construction are well researched.
From page 132...
... There is substantial risk that the homes and families of crews may be impacted or imperiled, undermining their ability to commit to utility restoration activities. Mutual aid from unaffected areas is essential.
From page 133...
... This damage to the electronic aspects of a device is functionally equivalent to physical damage. Damage to customer assets Limited except, possibly, to smart meters.


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