By Paul Hull, Contributing Editor
It hasn't happened yet; so, we think it never will. Thanks to some media that broadcast only sensational items, the word security brings to mind people dressed in foreign garb, speaking foreign tongues and carrying huge weapons—with scaremongers trying to persuade us that they are the most likely intruders for our property. But security for utility substations is seldom like that. Many substations are not large facilities—some little more than (very important) boxes—out there somewhere. Think of a little snake wiggling inside a cabinet of costly components and making a connection between two live wires. Consider a mouse or other small creature nibbling at tasty wires and cables. Those are the intruders more likely to threaten substations than hooded gunmen.
The greatest threat to our substations, however, may come from us. If we have had very few problems, or even no problems, we become complacent and neglectful. "Nothing's ever happened here; so, it never will" is what we're saying, or "What could possibly happen here?" It reminds me of workers digging trenches. In twenty-seven years, they've never had a cave-in, so why bother with the time and expense of shoring and shielding this time? Meet somebody who survived a cave-in and you may learn why—if he can talk.
Know the Details
As time goes by, employees and responsibilities change, and it can easily happen that the person responsible for certain substations last year is not in that role today. Are job assignments changed as accurately as payroll information? Do all employees truly know what is required at a particular substation? Has there been training with the new responsibility? Who has access to the facility? Contractors and their crews may need access sometimes. Do they have it? Always? Do you know when they go in? Who knows where to find the data from the substation?
You may have remote monitoring of your substations; there are good systems available that can tell you if there has been unwelcome access. Who is in charge of that aspect of your security? Do the persons involved know what to do if a break-in is recorded? Who is responsible for specific procedures (and does that person know he or she is responsible)? If something not human gains access to your substation, will you know? The worst reminder of substation trouble is disruption—and your customers are left without the service they pay for.
One of your best resources for information and help about substation security will be your insurance company. They have years of constant experience. They also have rules. For example, your insurance company may require that anybody who has permission to access your substations (and that would include contractors and their crews) should have passed a background screening test. The insurance company may also insist that all visitors be issued with identity badges. Yes, you can monitor and approve those badges from your office; you do not have to be near the substation.
Advances in electronic surveillance have contributed well to the maintenance of substation security, and you should research advertisements and the Internet for companies which provide such capabilities. Those technological advances have also helped the monitoring of the actual operation of substations because it is possible to correct some problems remotely without having to send a crew to investigate and adjust. But go back to our original premise: Our own complacency may be our worst enemy in security. Do we have reliable responses for every alarm or alert? On some days of the year, the importance of response is driven home to me when a couple of dogs who reside near my office bark for what seems hours on end to warn the owners of the houses that there may be a trespasser there. But the owners are at work. They don't hear the dogs barking. If an alarm is set off remotely for a substation, the response must be clear and unquestioned. Who is in charge? Who should decide to send help or call law enforcement help? Is the alarm a sure sign that there has been intrusion, or could it have been one of those normal malfunctions that happen now and then? The details are important, for you, for responders and for your whole community.
For the person new to substation responsibility, it could be helpful to find out the history of past security breaches. (You do have a record of every breach, don't you?) Were the breakdowns in substation security especially dangerous to your service and your customers? Did they cause a failure in service? Was the damage severe enough to necessitate a change in security arrangements? Did it seem there was anything about the facility which made it an easy target? The relevant questions could go on and on and on, until you are sick of them. But, because we are often talking about a facility that has no regular, on-site human involvement, the routines for response are vital.
Security from Non-human Intervention
Good fences will keep out most creatures, human and non-human, who would like to invade our substations, but some of the marauders are shaped or sized in ways that fences are seldom a problem for them. Mice are not very big. Snakes maneuver through the most intricate mazes. Birds can fly over fences. Some creatures that can do damage, like wasps, are small enough to scramble through cracks and crevices. Wasps? They don't like field technicians trying to disturb their homes, and they sting dangerously. Substations can offer perfect places for mother creatures to leave their eggs. Poisons have been popular in the past, but they can cause more problems than they solve. They are expensive, need regular refreshing, and they can harm creatures that may have been just nosy rather than menacing.
An excellent solution seems to be the use of deterrents that simply keep the wildlife away from your valuable assets. Sniff'N'Stop is such a product. It is ideal for those above-ground enclosures that look as if nothing can get inside to damage the components (until something does get inside and even breed a family there). Animals can smell Sniff'N'Stop, but human beings cannot. Small animals, horses, woodpeckers and rodents all find the smell offensive. For the above-ground enclosure—there's one just outside my office for telecommunications, and it could qualify as a substation—there are odorant pads that you place inside the cabinetry. The smell lasts for years; so, there is no regular replacement as there is for, say, a poison product. The deterrent pads could be placed in conduits and cable tray containers and around parts in control cabinets and cable troughs. A telecommunications conduit is big enough for a mouse and his pals to enter your facility. Also, this product does not hurt the animals. It just keeps them away. It seems to be worth trying—if only because it is so simple and inexpensive—and it has proven its value already.
The security of your substations may depend on where they are. When I talk about substations in the middle of heavily-wooded hills or more than 50 miles from home, some employees with nothing but city experience look at me as if I were deranged. In our biggest cities, the dangers may be from human vandals with equipment (and even training) that can break into a facility in minutes. In our more rural communities (of which there are many more than big cities) the threats from wildlife can be more real than those from people. But, there are products to help every utility.
Some homework is required, as it was to succeed at school, and one of your best sources for the latest information can be your local supplier. Software programs progress rapidly, and yesterday's state-of-the-art is today's antique to the most technological employees. The fact remains, however, that it is our own attitude to security that is more important and effective than any products. Find those excellent products, ask other utilities about them, and always know what your utility is going to do, and who is going to do it, if there is a breach of security... out there, somewhere.
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