The U.S. electricity grid is critically dependent on extra-high-voltage transformers made in China, says Tommy Waller, President of the Center for Security Policy. An expert on the U.S. grid, Waller also stars in the documentary “Grid Down, Power Up.”
What are the greatest problems facing America’s electrical grid? Why is the industry allowing these vulnerabilities to exist? And what happens if the electric grid goes down?
Interview trailer:
Watch the full interview: https://www.theepochtimes.com/how-communist-china-could-imminently-cripple-americas-electric-grid-tommy-waller_5335229.html
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Jan Jekielek: Tommy Waller, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders.
Tommy Waller: It’s an honor to be here. Thank you.
Mr. Jekielek: Tommy, about three years ago, in May of 2020, President Trump signed an executive order declaring an emergency around the national grid. This happened after one of these large high voltage transformers in the grid by a Chinese manufacturer was inspected by authorities. The results of that inspection are classified, but this grid emergency ensued. Tell me what happened and how this whole realization that we’ve had since then has progressed.
Mr. Waller: Absolutely. Yes, it was on May 1st, 2020, that an executive order declared a grid security emergency. It was a recognition that our bulk power system has really now become dependent on certain countries that are adversaries hostile to the United States, including Communist China. In this case, there was this transformer seized by the federal government the year before 2019. You can read about it in the Wall Street Journal. That transformer was brought to Sandia National Laboratory where it was inspected.
The result of it was a recognition that this is a really critical part of our grid, these extra high voltage transformers, and many experts consider it to be the backbone of our modern grid. I can explain why. If this device that we depend on for the lifeblood of our modern civilization was able to be manipulated, if it was able to be turned off, then that could be extremely problematic for us. China understands our dependence on electricity. It’s a very worrisome vector of attack that the Trump administration recognized, that they tried to address through executive order. Unfortunately, on the first day of the current Biden administration, that executive order was suspended. Our nation has imported about another 100 transformers from China in the ensuing period. We’re now somewhere around 400 in the US grid.
Mr. Jekielek: Please tell me the scale of these things. I watched the documentary, “Grid Down, Power Up,” recently, which featured you as an expert. They talk about how to move these things around and get them installed. This is an issue in itself, and just try to imagine what that would look like without power?
Mr. Waller: That’s right. We talk about the grid. When we say the grid, we’re talking about the whole system that generates electricity, transmits it, and distributes it. In order to transmit that electricity, it’s normally over long distances. You think about the power plants that produce our power. They’re not right next to the population centers. These extra high voltage transformers are needed to step up the voltage and then to bring it back down. It’s that high voltage that allows it to travel those long distances. These assets are absolutely critical.
If that transformer stopped working for any reason, then you’re not moving that electricity from where it’s produced to where it’s needed. The assets themselves, the large ones, may take years to produce. It used to be a lead time of about a year. Most of these are made overseas, unfortunately. Now, even the current Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm mentioned that with the war in Ukraine, and with the electrification of so many things in the world and in our country, the lead time for these assets has gone from about a year to more like four years.
Mr. Jekielek: To build one, if you’re going to commission it?
Mr. Waller: That’s right, to build and to import it, and there’s only so many rail cars and so many trailers that can transport these things across the country. When you look at that Wall Street Journal article by Rebecca Smith about this particular Chinese transformer, you can look at the cover picture in the article and see the size of the trailer needed to transport this thing. There’s only so many of those assets. We can’t afford to lose these for any reason, whether it’s because they were manufactured with malicious intent to manipulate them, or if they’re attacked by different forms of attack, we can’t afford to lose them.