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In efforts to prevent a repeat of the February disaster that left millions without electricity, Texas policymakers continue to disagree over the cause and appropriate mitigation efforts. The blackouts from the storm led to spikes in power prices and the deaths of at least 151 people.
Republican leadership was quick to criticize renewables for the role they played in the blackouts, with Gov. Greg Abbott, R, claiming on national television that renewables caused the outages. They cannot be dispatched by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and therefore cannot be relied upon, said state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R, who chairs the Senate Business and Commerce committee. Hancock sponsored Senate Bill (SB) 1278, which would impose reliability costs on intermittent generation.
Extreme heat may cause energy shortfalls in California this summer as solar output falls – NERC
Image: IRENA.
California could be at risk of energy shortfalls this summer because of above-normal temperatures impacting solar output, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has warned.
The organisation, which monitors and assesses the reliability of the US’ bulk power system, said up to 11GW of additional transfers are expected to be needed in late afternoon to offset reduced solar output in California this summer, in contrast to 1GW of transfer needed on a normal peak day.
Meanwhile, Texas, New England and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) – which delivers power across 15 US states and the Canadian province of Manitoba – are expected to have an “elevated risk” of energy shortfalls this summer.
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This post is a follow up from our recent discussion of the cyberattack that took the 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline offline last week and the growing threat ransomware poses to our nation’s energy system. On May 10, 2021, a group called DarkSide took responsibility for the ransomware and the FBI has since confirmed the group’s involvement. DarkSide indicated that the attack was financially, not politically, motivated. DarkSide, which allegedly has loose ties to the Russian government, has targeted several other companies recently, including other, smaller U.S. power companies.
The oil and gas industry and some Republican leaders are resisting new calls for mandated cybersecurity standards for pipelines in the wake of the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline.
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It was not a matter of if, but when. On Friday, Colonial Pipeline Company, the largest U.S. fuel pipeline, closed its entire 5,500-mile pipeline system that carries liquid fuels, including gasoline, from the Gulf Coast of Texas to New York and surrounding communities. Colonial was forced to take these measures as result of a ransomware cyberattack. As of this Monday, Colonial’s main systems remain offline, but the company working to develop a restart plan for its pipeline system.
The Growing Threat of Ransomware
In prior blog posts, we have discussed the growing threat of ransomware attacks, such as the one perpetrated here. A ransomware attack typically involves blocking access to a victim’s computer files. Once the targeted company pays the specified ransom, access to the files is restored. While ransomware attacks have traditionally focused on companies’ information technology (IT) networks, information security