Prepared for disaster
BERRYVILLE — On Thursday, Jan. 17, Carroll Electric fictitiously picked up the red phone and set into action its Emergency Restoration and Business Continuity Plan (internally known as the ERP) under the pretense of two mock disasters, according to a press release from the cooperative.
The first scenario was a tornado hit that severely damaged an electric substation in Benton County also destroying the Cooperative’s Bentonville district office facilities. The second scenario was a cyber-attack that occurred on Carroll Electric’s systems.
The ERP is Carroll Electric’s written plan to respond to major outages. A tabletop mock disaster exercise is annually required by the ERP, allowing the disaster response team leaders to practice and take the offense against a catastrophic event and safely restore the electric system.
David Brock, vice president of office services, organized the mock disaster.
“We developed a formal ERP in 2007,” he said. “It was an invaluable asset to us during the 2009 ice storm and we try to improve on it every year. The last few years we have recognized disasters are not always ‘physical.’
“Being prepared for a cyber-attack is just as important,” he added. “I’m pleased with the way the team leaders responded to both disaster scenarios.”
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 198 cyber-secu- rity incidents occurred during 2012 across the energy, chemical and nuclear sectors. Carroll Electric was not involved in any of these incidents and has proactively developed a broad range of solutions to mitigate an attack on Carroll’s systems.
Approximately 30 Carroll Electric professionals actively participated in the mock disaster exercise.