President Trump has declared a national emergency over foreign-made equipment in America’s bulk-power system, saying foreign actors are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities that could let them sabotage or remotely access the grid.
The executive order, issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the National Emergencies Act, finds an “unusual and extraordinary threat” from foreign-supplied bulk-power equipment. The White House says some of that equipment may contain digital backdoors that would let a foreign country access it remotely.
The order generally prohibits the purchase, import, transfer, or installation of certain foreign-produced power equipment—including associated software, firmware, and remote-access tools—when the Energy Secretary determines the deal poses an undue risk of sabotage, unauthorized access, malicious remote action, or supply disruption, or an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security.
The Energy Secretary can also put conditions on equipment already in use, including orders to identify, isolate, monitor, disconnect, replace, or remove it. Rules implementing the order are due within 120 days.
Officials say the threat is more serious as the country depends on reliable electricity for advanced manufacturing, data centers, artificial intelligence, defense production, and other critical infrastructure. Continued reliance on foreign power-system equipment, they warn, also leaves the U.S. exposed if trade disruptions cut off replacement parts.
The Energy Department is directed to identify bulk-power equipment that poses those risks and recommend how to inventory, isolate, or replace it. The order does not apply to facilities used for local electricity distribution.
The order comes amid warnings from former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Jon Wellinghoff that the U.S. power grid remains highly vulnerable: disabling as few as nine critical substations across the country’s three main interconnections could trigger a nationwide blackout lasting 18 months or longer, largely because replacement high-voltage transformers now face multi-year manufacturing lead times.
