With all our focus on converting the power grid to green renewable energy we have ignored an important issue. What happens if a catastrophic failure of our power grid takes place that can’t be fixed for days, weeks, months, or even years? Simply put, modern life would come to a halt forcing us to live in a pre-1850 environment. You think it can’t happen. It can happen in several different ways and experts tell us we are unprepared for it.

In 1859 a large solar flare associated with a coronal mass ejection of the Sun occurred. This phenomena caused a mass of energy, called an electromagnetic pulse or EMP, to travel directly at the Earth covering the 93 million mile journey in just 17 hours. On striking the Earth’s magnetosphere, a region of space surrounding the Earth it triggered a geomagnetic storm.

The storm caused Auroral displays that could be seen over much of the world with those in the northern hemisphere seen as far south as Hawaii and the Caribbean and in the southern hemisphere as far north as northern Australia and southern South America.

In 1859 our only “electronic” device was the telegraph. At the storm’s peak systems failed all around the globe. In the United States sparks were said to have flown from telegraph poles and telegraph keys. At one point even after telegraph operators in Boston disconnected the system’s battery supply for safety’s sake, they were able to continue sending messages to Bangor Maine due to the powerful electric energy present in the atmosphere. After the event it took days before even this primitive system was fully functioning.

In March of 1989 another solar storm, described as the most powerful of the “space age,” disrupted telephone and radio communications and caused the failure of the Quebec Provence power grid for several hours.

On July 9, 1962, an event brought to light another way in which the electric grid, modern communications systems, and modern life could be impacted by EMP. On that day as part of a test to see if incoming enemy nuclear war heads could be destroyed by nuclear warheads detonated high in the atmosphere a nuclear warhead was launched from Johnston Island 900 miles southwest of Hawaii and detonated 240 miles in the air.

Thirteen minutes after launch an electromagnetic pulse, far stronger than was expected, caused significant damage to both civilian and military electronic systems throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Streetlights blew out, circuit breakers tripped, telephone service crashed, aircraft radios malfunctioned, burglar alarms sounded, and garage door openers mysteriously activated.

This event brought with it the realization that any nation with the ability to deliver and detonate a nuclear weapon over the United States could create an EMP knocking out our electrical grid and electronic systems.

Studies such as one done by the Electrical Research Institute, an industry funded organization, claims that existing technology can protect key components of the electrical grid to buffer it from the impact of EMP. However, the Commission to Assess the Threat from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack has argued that an attack with a HEMP or High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse weapon would be a grave threat to the survival of the United States and its allies.” Such an attack while causing no physical destruction could, it is claimed, destroy the electrical grid and much of our unprotected civilian and military electronic infrastructure. The impact of this would be not just to shut down our economy but cause it to disappear.

On March 26, 2019, President Trump signed an executive order for “Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulse. At that time administration officials cautioned that while there was no intelligence pointing to an EMT attack that this type of attack could wipe out 90% of the U.S. population through starvation, disease, and social collapse. To protect the grid and critical communications systems against EMP experts say that the public and private sectors need to make use of previously developed Department of Defense measures against the impact of EMP on our electronic and digital infrastructures..

There are other ways of knocking out our power grid and other parts of our digital infrastructure essential to the functioning of our society. There is the threats posed by cyber-attacks such as have occurred in the recent past that may have been probing attacks looking for weaknesses in our systems. Allied with this is the threat posed by terrorists such as occurred last December in North Carolina when gunmen using rifles knocked out three power substations leaving 44,000 customers without power.

Our electric infrastructure is aging. The U.S. needs a grid that is faster and more resilient. Our grid is being pushed to do more than it was originally designed to do. Modernizing the grid means making it “smarter” when facing the impact of EMT, storms, and acts of God through the use of cutting-edge technologies, equipment, and controls that communicate and work together to deliver electricity more reliably and efficiently.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com