Should States Defer to Utility Companies or Initiate Their Own Mandatory Grid Reliability Upgrades?

At the December 6, 2013 Dupont Summit Conference of the Infragard EMP-SIG, presenters highlighted technologies and policy recommendations aimed at protecting the electric grid against potentially catastrophic events, such as a solar storm or the detonation of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon. An important policy question that arose from these presentations was whether electric utilities should remain the primary source of expertise and new reliability standards to mitigate risks of grid collapse and associated grid blackouts? Should states act to set state reliability standards to protect grids from solar storms and other EMP hazards, absent preemption by federal reliability standards? … [more]