IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

EMP/CME, How Bad Might It Be?

Always remember the source of the information.

The other day I had a conversation with someone who said something like this, "More and more I keep seeing people and organizations making decisions based on what will be best for them as individuals, not about what is best for the community or for their company."  

Then, how would the organization that represents electric utilities present threats to the electrical grid? Might they try to minimize the negative impacts to the marketplace? I'm thinking about the tobacco companies that had their "studies" to show no connection between smoking and various diseases. 

Be a discerning reader! Who is sharing what information? What position is being taken and is better for them than a finding that is the opposite? The linked story below is from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

I am not saying that the information is improper or incorrect. The stories I've read about 90% of the U.S. population dying from a CME is obviously "a bit" overstated from the opposite perspective. See: EPRI: Threat of EMP attacks on US transmission has been overstated.

Last week I shared this webinar coming up in a couple of days, Coronal Mass Ejection Webinar, and then in about 10 days, we have an Interdependencies Workshop: Long-term Power Outage that is using CME as the disaster scenario. There is still a little bit of room for people to register (it is here in Washington state). Attendance is capped at 120.  

 

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.
Sign up for GovTech Today

Delivered daily to your inbox to stay on top of the latest state & local government technology trends.