Four ways to harden America's power grid before our global enemies strike

Since World War II, the U.S. military has benefitted from uncontested strategic logistics, including energy supplies. This is no longer the case.

The cyberattacks Iran conducted on U.S. water supply sites in at least seven states were not carried out in isolation. In keeping with its longstanding military doctrine, Iranian representatives have recently threatened to target American domestic energy supplies and other strategic infrastructure.

China and Russia also include attacks on American and allied energy infrastructure in their war doctrines, and its past time to prepare accordingly. America must take the following four steps to protect its energy from Iran and other adversary threats.

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First, the U.S. should require that components for our critical infrastructure not be manufactured in China or other adversary states.

Second, the government and utilities should make secure and reliable electricity a top priority, including by influencing our choice of fuel sources.

Third, the U.S. should harden electricity systems against cyber-attacks and sabotage.

Fourth, the U.S. must develop defenses against electromagnetic attacks that disrupt and destroy electronic equipment.

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The border between foreign and domestic fronts in war has completely blurred as hybrid warfare has displaced conventional conflict between militaries. Iran believes that America over-relies on technology and that attacking our energy supplies will reduce our advantages during warfare . Such attacks would affect more than our troops; power to military installations runs primarily on civilian supply lines, and disruptions to domestic electricity could trigger public panic and undermine support for necessary conflict.

It could also prevent or slow American military operations. The easiest way to stop a bomber is not to shoot it down but to make the pilot lose electricity at his home or base. Chinese military doctrine, for example, calls for attacking our domestic energy sector before invading Taiwan.

Recent years have seen multiple cases of both cyberattacks and physical sabotage of Americas domestic electricity, including the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline and sniper attacks on high-voltage power transformers in California, Utah, and Oregon. Unfortunately, few meaningful changes have taken place to prevent similar attacks in the future.

In fact, we have installed components in our own grids that allow China to disrupt American domestic electricity. China is the largest produ