National‑lab scientist: connected batteries and inverters pose supply‑chain and cyber risk; inspections, contract changes urged
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Summary
An Idaho National Laboratory scientist told the Senate committee that communications pathways — not just country of manufacture — create the main security risk for modern inverter‑based resources and batteries; she recommended prioritized inspections, contract clauses to allow inspection, firmware review, and cyber‑informed engineering.
Austin — The chief power‑grid scientist from Idaho National Laboratory said the most urgent risk to the Texas electric grid is not only where equipment is manufactured but how it is connected and updated.
Dr. Emma Stewart told senators during the committee’s second panel that inverter‑based resources, battery energy storage systems and their control software are digitally active and increasingly interdependent. “If it has a communication system, we can consider it at risk at this point,” Stewart said. She pointed to documented adversary campaigns that have targeted energy operational networks and described situations where warranty and maintenance channels have become vectors for unintended access.
Stewart urged a prioritized, consequence‑based approach: inspect and remediate systems that serve hospitals, military installations and other high‑consequence sites first; require contract language that permits inspection and removal of clauses that block reverse engineering; and use national labs’ capabilities to audit firmware.
“We should focus those most intensive efforts where the consequences are highest, while providing resources for lower‑criticality systems,” she said.
UT Austin researchers on the panel reinforced the message, noting discrepancies between equipment ‘as‑built’ documentation and observed communications hardware on sites. Panelists said manufacturers’ contract clauses that forbid reverse engineering can inhibit state verification and recommended legislative protections allowing third‑party inspections without exposure to litigation.
What’s next: Committee members asked agencies to consider statutory authority to require inspection rights, increase collaboration with national labs, and fund technical assistance to local utilities for spot checks and firmware analysis.
Quoted: “It is very difficult to fully trace dependencies from raw materials to deployed systems,” Stewart said. “The concern is whether these systems are understood, controlled and secured.”
