Grid Resilience and Security

We all take power for granted, but we shouldn’t.  When the grid goes down, everything in our society from operations to security is at risk.  We can’t heat or cool our homes, food spoils, we can’t access money or get gas.  Communications go down.  We can’t make transactions of any type.  Our water systems fail.  There’s an endless list of consequences associated with the strength - or weakness - of our energy grid. 

The U.S. power grid is under growing strain, fueled by the massive energy demands of cloud computing, AI, electric vehicles, industrial electrification as businesses shift away from fossil fuels, and the energy needed to power cryptocurrency mining.

At the same time, the energy supply is transforming, with coal plants closing and renewable energy sources like wind and solar rising rapidly. Yet, the intermittent nature of renewables creates serious challenges in balancing supply and demand, underscoring the urgent need for energy storage, new generation resources, balancing resources to firm up variable generation, and modernizing transmission capacity.  Adding to these challenges are extreme weather events—such as hurricanes, heat waves, and ice storms— and growing cyberthreats as the grid becomes more digitized. 

Attendees discovered how the U.S. power grid is evolving, and the critical measures being taken to ensure its resilience and security. 

Speakers

CEO, North American Electric Reliability Corporation

Jim Robb

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James (Jim) B. Robb assumed the role of NERC’s president and chief executive officer (CEO) in April 2018. Robb oversees NERC’s mission of assuring the reliability and security of the North American bulk power system...

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Senior Vice President, Chief Executive Officer of the E-ISAC

Manny Cancel

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Manny Cancel assumed the role as NERC senior vice president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) in January 2020. He is responsible for the management and oversight of...

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Retired CIO, WAWA and Chair-Elect, NERC

Suzanne Keenan

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Suzanne Keenan serves as the vice chair and chair elect for NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation) having chaired their Technical & Security and Corporate Governance & Human Resource Committees. Suzanne is also a member of Univest Financial’s Board serving on their Executive, Enterprise-Wide Risk Management, Community Reinvestment Act and Nominating & Governance Committees...

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