Experts Warn Nationwide Blackout Could Last 18 Months
Wellinghoff said nine key substation hits could black out the grid, and transformer replacement delays could extend recovery to 18 months.
- Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff warned the United States could face a nationwide blackout lasting 18 months if nine critical substations across the three major power grids were disabled.
- Wellinghoff uncovered this vulnerability following the 2013 attack on a Pacific Gas and Electric substation near San Jose, California, where aging equipment now complicates defense efforts across the grid.
- Large power transformers face average wait times of 128 weeks for replacement, while domestic manufacturers supply only about 20 percent of the units the United States needs and many transformers already exceed service lives.
- A prolonged outage would collapse communications and financial transactions within days; the supply of food, water and fuel would degrade once natural-gas pumps failed, though Primary Entry Point radio stations hold about 60 days of generator fuel.
- NERC chief engineer Mark Lauby argues grid complexity and redundancies make a cascading blackout unlikely, yet officials remain concerned about adversaries studying the San Jose attack who have demonstrated interest in targeting critical infrastructure.
8 Articles
8 Articles
Shockingly vulnerable US power grid could result in 18-month nationwide blackout, expert warns
The US is at a heightened risk of a catastrophic blackout that could last up to 18 months due to aging power grid infrastructure that takes agonizingly long to update and is potentially vulnerable to a precision weapon strike.
Could America really lose power for 18 months? The warning is chilling · American Wire News
A bombshell New York Times Magazine report warns that the power grid’s dependence on hard-to-replace transformers is creating a risk of a prolonged national blackout that could be devastating. Filed on Monday, the report starts by documenting a real event — the Metcalf attack — that occurred in 2013, when electrical transformers at a power station near San Jose, California, were fired upon by unknown rifle-wielding shooters targeting their cooli…
Former chairman of the F.E.R.C warns we could experience Nationwide blackout lasting 18 MONTHS
The United States faces the chilling prospect of a nationwide blackout that could stretch for 18 months or longer, according to a report from the Daily Mail drawing on revelations from the former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Jon Wellinghoff, who once led the agency overseeing the nation’s energy markets, uncovered the vulnerability […]
MichaelSavage.com – Warning that mammoth nationwide blackout could last 18 MONTHS as power grid’s appalling weak spots exposed
The United States is at risk of a nationwide blackout that could last 18 months, according to the former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Jon Wellinghoff became aware of the alleged vulnerability after a shooting at a Pacific Gas and Electric Company's San Jose substation, according to the The New York Times Magazine.…
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