Physical Protection from Substation Attacks

Jan. 6, 2015
Today, electrical substations are some of the most important and critical assets to keeping the U.S. power grid operating consistently and efficiently.

Today, electrical substations are some of the most important and critical assets to keeping the U.S. power grid operating consistently and efficiently. Unfortunately, most substations are lacking essential protection. A physical attack on a substation could result in power outages and failures in large parts of the country. In fact, since 2013, there have been four known attacks on substations around the country. The most recent of these attacks happening in November 2014.

These attacks point out the lack of protection on substations and open the discussion on the best way to secure these electrical hubs. The FERC and the NERC recently began to develop mandatory reliability standards to address threat level and vulnerabilities of critical facilities around the country, like these transmission substations. These guidelines and standards will help owners and operators of substations find the most effective way to secure and protect their electrical investments.

Companies like Southern States have been researching and developing products and solutions for substation protection. Ballistic resistant wall panel enclosures and perimeter fencing are designed to minimize damage from projectiles, deplete chance of interference, and secure on-site access to substation. The Ballisti-WallT and Ballisti-Cover solutions from Southern States can be easily customized and implemented into any existing substation structure to provide additional and crucial protection.

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