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DETAILS ON THREATS TO THE GRID: Attempted attacks on the grid increased nearly seven-fold between May 2022 and December 2022, according to a new report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. This includes physical attacks—such as vandalism, assault, and ballistic attacks, but also new types of malware and ransomware by which hackers can seek to access the grid.
This new threat data was outlined yesterday in NERC’s new 2023 State of Reliability Overview.
The Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or E-ISAC, conducted 90 separate intelligence briefings and shared 870 individual information posts on relevant cyber and physical threats to the U.S. energy industry last year, NERC said yesterday.
Geopolitical trends: As we noted earlier this year, the industry as a whole has been on higher alert for attempted cyber intrusions following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“This geopolitical climate and turmoil has contributed to a dramatic uptick in malicious cyber activities, including new iterations of malware and ransomware,” NERC senior vice president and E-ISAC head Manny Cancel, told reporters.
Cancel said he sees the grid as a “hyper complex” risk environment that has become increasingly difficult to protect against.
Why it matters: Recent physical attacks and attempted cyber intrusions on the grid have illustrated how vulnerable the grid remains to outside threats, especially as more renewable energy projects are brought online—creating a larger and more complex surface that is vulnerable to attacks.
The growing attack surface as a result of distributed energy resources calls for “ongoing development and adaptation of cyber and physical security standards and guidelines to keep up with the ever-changing threat landscape,” NERC said in its report. “Furthermore, cyber-informed planning should include designs and be considered when planning and integrating the technologies into the grid to strengthen the cyber robustness.”
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SCOTUS RULES 5-4 AGAINST NAVAJO NATION IN COLORADO RIVER CASE: The Supreme Court rejected a claim by the Navajo Nation yesterday that the U.S. was obligated to secure its access to the Colorado River, delivering a setback to the tribe as it seeks to ensure reliable and adequate access water supplies from the river, which runs alongside the reservation’s northwestern border and supplies water to seven U.S. states and Mexico.
Justices ruled 5-4 that under the 1868 treaty the U.S. reached with the Navajo Nation, it is not required to provide the tribe with sufficient water supply. Writing for the high court’s majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that while the treaty in question “‘set apart’ a reservation for the ‘use and occupation of the Navajo tribe’ … it contains no language imposing a duty on the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Tribe.”
Legal counsel for the Navajo Nation argued that the 1800s treaty included a “promise of a permanent homeland” with “adequate water for agriculture and raising livestock.”
Low water levels have prompted years of fighting among the U.S. states with allocations to the river. In this case, states including Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado argued that, if the tribe was granted access, states would have been forced to give up their own existing shares of the water. Read more from the Examiner’s Kaelan Deese here.
OREGON COUNTY SUES FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES FOR ROLE IN 2021 HEAT DOME: Oregon’s Multnomah County is suing oil and gas companies for their role in the 2021 heat dome, claiming in a new lawsuit that emissions from the companies played a significant role in causing the extreme heat event, which blanketed the Pacific Northwest from several days in late June to early July.
In Multnomah County, which includes the city of Portland, temperatures soared to a record-shattering high of 116 degrees Fahrenheit, causing extensive property damage and resulting in the deaths of 69 people.
The county is seeking more than $1.5 billion in damages from the defendants, which include ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and others, according to the New York Times.
…MEANWHILE, 3M TO PAY UP TO $12.5 BILLION TO SETTLE PFAS LAWSUIT: The company 3M has agreed to pay up to $12.5 billion over 13 years to settle a lawsuit over so-called “forever chemicals” that plaintiffs claim polluted U.S. drinking water for decades.
The deal was announced yesterday, and pending approval from a judge will resolve all current and future complaints that 3M contaminated water supplies “at any level” with per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, according to the company.
“This is an important step forward for 3M, which builds on our actions that include our announced exit of PFOA and PFOS manufacturing more than 20 years ago, our more recent investments in state-of-the-art water filtration technology in our chemical manufacturing operations, and our announcement that we will exit all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025,” 3M CEO Mike Roman told Bloomberg.
The agreement resolves what analysts have previously estimated could be “tens of billions of dollars” in potential liabilities for 3M and its products, which primarily focused on PFAS from foams it produced to extinguish fires, which were used at military bases and airports in the U.S.
U.S. LNG PROJECT APPROVAL ON TRACK TO PROCESS RECORD VOLUMES: U.S. LNG developers are slated to approve three new export projects capable of processing 5.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in the first half of 2023, a record volume that puts the U.S. even further ahead in its role as the world’s largest LNG producer and exporter.
The new developments put the U.S. on track to export 12.1 bcfd this year, and 12.7 bcfd next year—helping boost the number of customers willing to sign long-term contracts, which typically last around 10 years.
“We expect global LNG demand to grow from 399 million tonnes in 2022 to 627 million tonnes by 2035, more than a 50% increase,” Michael Stoppard, the head of global gas strategy data at S&P Global Commodity Insights, told Reuters.
TOXIC ALGAE OUTBREAK BELIEVED RESPONSIBLE FOR HUNDREDS OF SEA LION AND DOLPHIN DEATHS IN CALIFORNIA: A toxic algae outbreak on the West Coast has caused alarm in Southern California, where hundreds of dolphins and sea lions have washed ashore in recent weeks, either dead or sickened as a believed result of the algal bloom.
The wave of dead or sick animals is “one of the largest in memory,” NOAA stranding coordinator Justin Greenman told CNN, describing the scene as “completely overwhelming.” At least 100 dolphins have been declared dead from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and officials from the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute said they have responded to calls of distress for around 300 live sea lions.
Officials said they are waiting on results of tissue samples before they can officially link the algae in question, Pseudo-nitzschia, to the strandings, deaths, and odd behaviors exhibited by the marine animals. That type of algae produces a neurotoxin poisonous to seabirds and fish, which can then travel up the food chain and be passed along to the dolphins, sea lions, and other animals.
It can also cause harm in humans, prompting the California Department Of Health to warn against eating “sport-harvested mussels, clams or scallops from Santa Barbara County” after the toxin was detected there.
CHURCH OF ENGLAND FUND DROPS OIL MAJORS FROM ITS PORTFOLIO: The Church of England’s $11.3 billion endowment fund is dropping BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, and Shell from its investment portfolio, citing the oil majors’ failure to align with the goals of the Paris climate accord, which seeks to limit global warming to well below 1.5 C below pre-industrial temperatures.
In a statement, the Church Commissioners for England, which manages the fund, said it could reconsider the criteria if the companies came into alignment with the criteria, saying they did not take the decision “lightly.”
SOUTH FORK WIND PROJECT ADVANCES: Project developers for the South Fork Wind project installed a substation foundation for the offshore project located off the East End of Long Island, a major milestone that marks the official start of the project’s installation phase.
Once operational, the 12-turbine, 130 MW wind farm is slated to produce enough power to supply about 70,000 homes, according to a statement from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office.
The Rundown
E&E News Inside Manchin’s war with Biden on electric vehicles
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New York Times The war is worsening the effects of climate change, Kerry says.
