Expert warns Tennessee transformers vulnerable to geomagnetic events; committee sends bill to summer study

Senator Boling introduced SB 25-65, the Save Transformers Act, which would ask electric utilities to re‑run vulnerability assessments for large transformers using updated threat inputs and identify assets that require protection.

Lieutenant Colonel Tommy Waller (U.S. Marine Corps, retired), president and CEO of the Center for Security Policy, testified that large power transformers are particularly vulnerable to ground‑induced currents from solar storms and electromagnetic pulses and that replacement lead times range from four to six years. "This bill simply requires them to use the same models... to plug the real number in, which is 85," Waller said, urging the committee to require realistic threat assumptions. Senators acknowledged the seriousness of the threat but some expressed concern about revealing vulnerabilities and about utilities' capacity to respond; the committee voted 6–3 to send the measure to summer study for more technical review.