Dive Brief:

• Congress is raising concerns about an April attack on a Pacific Gas & Electric substation that former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said was terrorism.
• In a nearly hour-long attack, which is still being investigated, attackers shot out 17 of 23 transformers at a Silicon Valley substation.
• Democratic senators have asked FERC and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation if tougher federal standards are needed to protect the grid.
• The attack was a "wake-up call to the risk of physical attacks on the grid," the senators said in a letter. “We are concerned that voluntary measures may not be sufficient to constitute a reasonable response to the risk of physical attack on the electricity system.”

Dive Insight:

In 2012, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report finding that the grid was “inherently vulnerable” to attack and that the issue needed to be addressed.