The U.S. Government Accountability Office has published a report regarding actions the energy sector has taken to address potential risks to power grid reliability by electromagnetic events. Such events could result from natural causes, such as a large-scale geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) caused by severe solar weather, or from human-made sources, such as an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by the high-altitude detonation of a nuclear device. Given the risks to the energy sector from these events and the cascading effect of power outages on other sectors and the nation as a whole that would likely result, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) created two regulatory standards requiring certain U.S. and Canadian energy suppliers to assess their vulnerability and take appropriate steps. Among other things, the GAO report assessed compliance with the standards among a select group of energy suppliers as well as other steps they have taken to address GMD and EMP threats.

Access a Podcast regarding this report at GAO.