Physical threats to electric grid put cybersecurity on backburner

By Zack Colman

Published March 13, 2014 12:00am ET

Physical threats to electric grid put cybersecurity on backburner — The electric grid relies largely on decades-old technology and is in need of upgrades, but it's difficult to find the money, with flat electricity demand growth and increasing volumes of distributed renewable energy. (Thinkstock) | Tomasz Wyszoamirski

Capitol Hill discussion about the electric grid is shifting to physical security, leading federal officials and some lawmakers to worry that focus on cybersecurity is waning.

Lawmakers such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., have given increasing attention to physical grid security following an April 2013 attack at a San Jose, Calif.-area transmission substation by armed gunmen.