Along with Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), I recently introduced H.Res.762, with which we mean to express “the sense of the House of Representatives regarding community-based civil defense and power generation.” The Resolution is intended to “encourage community based civil defense preparations, including distributed generation of 20% of local electricity needs.”
The U.S. electric grid is one of our nation’s most critical infrastructures—none of the other 17 critical infrastructures will function properly without it. America’s grid is vulnerable to widespread blackouts of extended duration from any and all of the following threats: cyber attack; solar geomagnetic storm electro-magnetic pulse (EMP), coordinated physical attack; nuclear EMP; or a pandemic. It is critical that we in Congress send the message that it is in the interest of national security that every community and institution, especially our military, reestablish their capabilities to be self-sufficient independent of the electric grid.
This Resolution has received support from first responders and national security experts, including former Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey, former National Security Advisor Robert “Bud” McFarlane, Chuck Manto, lead, EMP SIG of Infragard, the Reserve Officers Association, and the Reserve Enlisted Association. Mr. Woolsey has said that the bill “will encourage America’s best-in-the-world hackers, inventors, engineers, first responders and entrepreneurs to help lead the rest of us toward having a much more resilient electric grid. Local communities and organizations that take steps to generate 20% of their electricity load independent of the grid will strengthen our national security by becoming more self-reliant and self-sustaining.”
The federal government’s acknowledgement this summer of a 17-fold increase between 2009 and 2011 of cyber attacks on American infrastructure by criminals, hackers and other nations underscores the urgent need for action. However, there are significant regulatory and political obstacles for federal government top-down initiatives. That is why it is of critical importance that individuals, communities and organizations take steps to move forward to secure themselves and mitigate against threats to our electric infrastructure. I’d like your input about how we can do so.
Specifically: What technical, policy and political challenges stand in the way of the United States realizing a fully 20% distributed electricity system that can operate independent of or in partnership with owners and operators of grid assets? Who/what are key stakeholder(s) and organizations that may be supportive? How can the U.S. move toward such a system most cost-effectively and expeditiously? In addition to disaster preparedness, what secondary benefits would come with such a system? What are other key questions, second and third order effects to consider?
In case you missed it, this is a summary from reports by Federal News Radio and Business Wire of important facts about a NEW RFP for distributed generation on its… Read more »
Congressman Bartlett should be lauded for House Resolution #762. From the publication of Brittle Power in 1985 to the recent DHS’ commissioned study by a new report from the National… Read more »
I have a number of questions about H.Res.762. How much might this cost? How does this supplemental system work when there is no attack on the grid…does it sit idle?… Read more »
Lots of great points here. I would like to comment on them but will need to do just a few at a time. Flexibility and industry leadership: This bill appears… Read more »
What technical, policy and political challenges stand in the way of the United States realizing a fully 20% distributed electricity system that can operate independent of or in partnership with… Read more »
First, I want to applaud this effort that I am sure included extensive work and research of many congressional staffers. Distributed energy is an excellent goal and one that would… Read more »
The above comments provide some valuable insights. However, in my view, this legislative effort is neither necessary nor desirable. Congress should butt out. This is a tough enough job for… Read more »
Most of us love the hard working people in our local utilities and appreciate their work. We are impressed at the way their mutual aid agreements come into play whenever… Read more »
First, I appreciate the potential value of distributed generation, self-reliance, resilient communities, etc. But finding the right balance between local self-reliance and wide-area, collaborative efficiency — both of which can… Read more »
I really enjoyed Lewis’s comments because they focused on several of the issues raised in this very briefly written bill. He points out the potential for misunderstanding when the phrase… Read more »
Thank you to everyone who took the time to post comments thus far: Charles Manto, Lewis Perelman, Albert Rossin, and Paul Williamson. A House Resolution expresses an opinion of the… Read more »
Lot of good comments above. I’d like to add just one caveat. In focusing on the value of distributed generation for security of critical supply, we should not lose sight… Read more »
Roger is exactly on target. The sponsors of this bill include three who have sponsored legislation to protect the large grids. (The Grid Act and the Shield Act) My opinion… Read more »
I appreciate the comments that have already been made, and the goal is a worthy one. But I believe that addressing grid security without addressing the insecurity of the fossil… Read more »
Dr Dale, You raise a great question. A key reason for speaking about “local energy” generation is to make certain that the entire country realizes how at risk we are… Read more »
Since most people do not have access to nuclear power, coal or natural gas, essentially all of the energy they might supply would be renewable. As to convincing the people… Read more »
Your assessment is reasonable. But, what might be done to attract the attention and motivation to confront the issue before a tragedy hits us? Would not a bill like this… Read more »
No, we should not give up, but we should not kid ourselves about the difficulty of the transition before us, and how long it will take. The physical transition itself… Read more »
Thanks to Dr Dale for bringing up Dr Kubler-Ross’s book on “Death and Dying”. It had been a long time since I actually read it since seeing the 1969 book… Read more »
The nationwide grid is an incredibly complex interconnected system of generation, transmission and load. It is operated by hundreds of utilities and regulated by Federal, regional and state authorities, all… Read more »
Dave, That was a great overview and all these points are valid. So, the questions remain: 1) how long would it take to resolve all these problems you have capably… Read more »
Congressman Bartlett’s H. Res 762 intent to encourage community and institution distributed generation of electricity should be framed in the broader context of smart grid development for the United States.… Read more »
I’ve found that my neighbors — since we’re Marylanders have been more engaged about making our electricity supply more reliable because of a series of outages that have plagued thousands… Read more »
What technical, policy and political challenges stand in the way of the United States realizing a fully 20% distributed electricity system that can operate independent of or in partnership with… Read more »
Thank you again for the comments posted so far. I have 2 items to add. H.Res. 762 responds in part to concerns about the ability of our military and defense… Read more »
There is a big difference between the 20% renewables goal and the goal of 20% distributed energy resources (DER). In essence, 20% DER is harder. Reaching 20% wind would require… Read more »
ReWire, which is dedicated to covering renewable energy in California posted an article on 8/14/2012 about H.Res. 762. http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/government/gop-rep-pushes-to-decentralize-the-grid.html It notes that H.Res. 762 is “what is known as a… Read more »
Rep. Bartlett, I’ve been a fan of yours ever since I heard you speak at the ASPO 2005 conference. This bill looks like a good approach. My comments: What technical,… Read more »
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I forgot to mention: The US Army should look closely at biomass (wood pellets) as a fuel for on-site power generation with CHP. If the proximity to feedstock and a… Read more »
Responding to Charles Manto’s questions: 1) How long would it take to resolve all these problems you have capably demonstrated? 2) What can be done to survive a major long-term… Read more »
Dave, Thanks so much for the extraordinarily kind words. (If I could, I’d like to hire you as my publicist.) You make really good points, especially the comments about getting… Read more »
I’m sorry that I don’t have time to respond in depth, but thank you to Chris, Dave and Charles for your comments and exchanges. A couple of case studies about… Read more »
This is a good discussion with many points. I offer a few thoughts: 1. Distributed energy resources can enhance grid resilience but also provides reliability benefits to individual facilities and… Read more »
How to Pay for HR 762 Many of the contributors to this blog have asked the same excellent question: How do we pay for this additional capacity; or what social-economic… Read more »
There is frequent reference to using distributed renewable energy sources to provide up to 20% of the nation’s electricity in case of terrorist attacks or other causes that result in… Read more »
Herschel makes a lot of good points but I think he misses the key purpose of the resolution. I think everyone can agree with Herschel when he says, “I favor… Read more »