Obama takes steps to improve the grid

Energy security was a big part of Barack Obama’s campaign platform. Among the promises he made was to increase the security of refineries, pipelines and power grids.

 

The president has made some headway.

 

Earlier this year, Congress passed a stimulus bill that includes $4.5 billion to

upgrade the nation’s electricity grid

. Part of that funding will be used to support technological research aimed at making the system more impervious to cyber attacks. For example, in April 2009, intelligence officials

told

The Wall Street Journal


that cyberspies have infiltrated the grid, leaving behind software programs that could be used to shut down our electricity system and cause havoc around the country.

 

Such concerns were outlined in Obama’s Cyberspace Policy Review, a document published by the White House earlier this year that signaled Obama’s seriousness about the issue. But on refineries and pipelines, there’s been no substantial action. We’ll keep an eye on that for now, but because Obama has made progress on part of his promise — to invest in power grid security — we’ll move this promise to In the Works.