From: Utility DIVE
Dive Brief:
- The Department of Energy will test the power grid’s ability to recover from outages caused by cyberattacks in a new exercise this autumn dubbed “Liberty Eclipse,” E&E News reports.
- The exercise on New York’s Plumb Island will focus on the intersection between the natural gas and electric utility sectors and the grid’s ability to “blackstart,” or recover from a widespread outage, according to documents supplied to the news outlet.
- News of the exercise comes as the Department of Energy prepares a plan to bail out coal and nuclear plants in the name of national security. DOE argues those plants may be less vulnerable to outages than those supplied by natural gas, a point contested by utility leaders and a broad group of sector experts.
Dive Insight:
News of the DOE’s new grid exercise comes amid heightened tensions in Washington over grid security and the federal government’s proposed policies to strengthen it.
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