From: Al Florence [PII redacted] Sent: Monday, May 10, 2021 10:56 PM To: ElectricSystemEO Subject: [EXTERNAL] Slight spelling error correction on prior submissions Dear Mr. Coe, Thank you for the RFI published at 86 Federal Register 21309 (Vol. 86, No. 76, April 22, 2021). In response to the RFI, these are our comments. We, the Colorado Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Task Force, recommends the following spending options: 1. Develop and execute plans on hardening the US electric grid against EMP, coronal mass ejections (CME), cyber-attacks and supply chain vulnerabilities. 2. EMPs - An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also sometimes called a transient electromagnetic disturbance, is a short burst of electromagnetic energy. Such a pulse's origin may be a natural occurrence or human-made and can occur as a radiated, electric, or magnetic field or a conducted electric current, depending on the source. 3. EMP can destroy electronics because they induce a strong current in the electronics causing different parts of the electronics to couple short-circuiting them or even inducing such a large current that the circuits themselves melt or fuse together rendering the electronics unusable. 4. Russia and China have the capability to launch a nuclear weapon over the US which would create an EMP that could cover a large portion of the US if not the entire US. 5. North Korea is actively working on this capability as is Iran and may soon have the capability to do the same. 6. CMEs - Knowing that major solar CMEs (also called solar EMPs) are considered black swan events that are difficult to predict but when they do occur, they could have major consequences on Earth’s electrical infrastructure including the electric grid. 7. A large CME, the Carrington Event, occurred on Sept 1, 1859. CMEs are natural events occurring on average every 150 years; their history is embedded in tree rings. 8. The last recorded Carrington-class solar storm was 162 years ago and is the largest super solar storm on record. All telegraph capabilities were destroyed which was the advanced technology of the time. Significant events also occurred on Nov 18,1882. All telegraph transactions east of the Mississippi and north of Washington D. C. came to a halt. 9. A CME in 2012 was an unusually large event that missed the Earth with a margin of approximately nine days, this was the magnitude of a Carrington event and if it would have hit the earth in the US vicinity all, if not most, of our electric infrastructure would have been destroyed! 10. We recommend that budget be set aside from Biden’s infrastructure proposal to harden the US electric grid against these damaging events. 11. Strengthen EO 13920 of May 1, 2020 pertaining to the supply chain by fixing defects in this executive order and better enforcing its implementation. For example, purchase of foreign made equipment such as transformers and sensors for the electric grid adds risk that it could be shut down by foreign adversaries. Therefore, the procurement of all new foreign equipment and components needs to be thoroughly analyzed and tested prior to deployment. In addition, existing foreign made critical equipment and components need to be analyzed to ensure that they are safe and do not include any flaws on hidden backdoors that could bring down the electric grid. 12. The electric grid is key to all critical infrastructures. Adequate funding is needed to immediately mitigate vulnerabilities in the existing grid, and to ensure that all new grid infrastructure such as renewable electric generation, transmission and distribution are protected from EMP/CME events, cyber-attacks, and potential supply chain vulnerabilities. Please feel free to contact us. We are here to support you and we have national experts in EMP/GMD and the electric Grid that are available to help. John Spence – State Director, Colorado EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security [PII redacted] Al Florence – State Deputy Director, Colorado EMP Task Force [PII redacted]