☆ Secure Substations Now! ☆

 

     Do you know how important electricity is? You may not realize it, but we rely heavily on electricity and energy. In stores like HEB and Kroger, if the power goes out for more than 30 - 45 minutes, food can go bad, which leads to them having to throw out the food which results in higher prices. ​Some people need electricity because of medical issues such as at-home ventilators, dialysis machines, etc.​ Everything these days is on the internet and you can’t work or pretty much do anything else.

     A major weak point in the energy journey is that substations are not protected enough and that we need to prevent attacks such as the recent ones in North Carolina and Washington State.

     On December 3, 2022, a shooting attack was carried out on two electrical distribution substations located in Moore County, North Carolina. Damage from the attack left up to 40,000 residential and business customers without electrical power. According to NPR, the attack caused "millions of dollars" of damage to the substations as well. What if that happens in your community? 

     We are focusing on substations because the power plants themselves are well protected but many energy substations are more vulnerable, and if a substation gets attacked, then several thousand homes can lose power. 

We suggest a two-part solution to try to prevent these events:

 

Prevent and Deter the actual attack:

• To prevent the attack, have a concrete wall to prevent shooting and slanted barbed wire or circular barbed wire at the top to prevent climbing.
• To deter the attack, we can also put signs on the substations outlining the consequences of the vandalism that will deter any potential attacker. 

Prosecuting vandals after the attack:

• The solution for analyzing and looking at the situation after the attack is CCTV cameras with infrared sensors in them (closed circuit cameras) that record the attack with video analytics in special and discreet positions. Video Analytics is used to identify what objects are being recorded on the camera, such as a human, animal, car, etc. When the video analytics determines an actual attack, it can send a notification to the owner or sound an alarm.

     Although security cameras help after the attack, they are not as effective while stopping the attack, because people could just wear masks or attack at night. Even if you figure out who attacked, there are still millions of dollars in debt and over 10,000 people will lose power. But if you prevent the attacks in the first place, then no one will lose power and you won’t have to pay money.

     Our main goal for this petition is to spread awareness for energy companies around the globe to invest in protecting substations better. For these reasons, we would appreciate it if you would sign and spread this petition to raise awareness about this problem. 

Here is the link to a Website we made:

https://ishaandesai21.wixsite.com/securethesubstations

 - CATalyzing Cookies (A group of 5th and 6th graders)

Ishaan, Amrita, Vihan, Anika, Suchir, Sayan, Sanvi, Gautam

 

https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/cost/barbed-wire-fence-price/#:~:text=Barbed%20wire%20is%20dependable%2C%20sturdy,for%20farms%20and%20livestock%20fencing.​

https://homeguide.com/costs/precast-poured-concrete-wall-cost​

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/05/1140775417/north-carolina-substation-attack-what-we-known