OTTAWA, Ontario - November 19, 2015. Electric utilities from across Canada were among the thousands of participants in GridEx III, a two-day continent-wide security exercise. The purpose of this event was to test the readiness of the North American electricity sector’s crisis action and communications plans, and to strengthen response and recovery capabilities following a catastrophic emergency.
The exercise consisted of a simulated coordinated cyber and physical attack scenario, which modeled widespread damage to the interconnected grid. Over the course of two days, participating utilities responded to a chain of simulated incidents and threats, which stressed internal and external operations and communications. The program finished with an executive tabletop, in which senior Canadian and U.S. industry and government officials examined policy-level issues associated with managing the impact of such an emergency.
GridEx III marked the third installment in the biannual series of security drills conducted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). Since the first GridEx in 2011, participation by utilities, governments and other stakeholders has grown exponentially, including in Canada.
“NERC’s GridEx program is best-in-class among critical infrastructure sectors for testing resilience in the face of a severe emergency,” said the Honourable Sergio Marchi, President & CEO of the Canadian Electricity Association (CEA). “The robust involvement of CEA members in GridEx is a testament to their ongoing commitment to safeguarding the electric grid, and by extension, the security and quality of life for Canadians.”
With cyber and physical security threats becoming increasingly sophisticated, Canadian utilities are taking numerous steps to enhance the security posture of the grid. Among others, these include compliance with NERC’s mandatory security standards; collaboration and sharing of threat information with Canadian and U.S. government partners; and expanded programs for equipment sharing and mutual assistance on power restoration.
“GridEx has become the marquee opportunity for continuous improvement and learning by the electricity sector in addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow,” added Carmine Marcello, former President & CEO of Hydro One, who represented CEA at the GridEx executive tabletop. “Taken together with other aspects of the sector’s defense-in-depth strategy, GridEx should instill confidence in the public that the owners and operators of critical electric infrastructure approach grid security as an utmost priority, and are doing everything they can to achieve higher levels of performance and progress in this space.”
In the coming months, NERC will issue a detailed report with key findings and recommendations from GridEx III.
Click here for more information on NERC’s grid security exercises.