Our Mission

The Foundation for Resilient Societies is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the mission of boosting critical infrastructure resilience and recoverability.

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In Tribute to William R. Harris, 1941-2021

With sorrow we inform you of the passing of William (Bill) R. Harris, Director Emeritus of the Foundation for Resilient Societies, from complications of COVID-19. A remembrance of Bill's lifelong contributions to the cause of critical infrastructure protection can be found on our Leadership page.

Causes and Costs of ERCOT Load Sheds

Click on links to access our timely presentation and relevant 2017 testimony:

• "Causes and Costs of the ERCOT Load Sheds in February 2021"
• Testimony to FERC on Risk of Long-Term Blackouts

Texas Electric Grid Information Resources

Information resources on Texas electric grid during the cold snap:

• Public Utility Commission of Texas
• Emergency Order of the Railroad Commission of Texas
• ERCOT News Releases
• Links to Recent News​
• Testimony to FERC on Dual-Fuel Plants for Texas and Other States
• NERC Presentation and Photos from February 1-5, 2011 Grid Outages
• FERC/NERC Report on Southwest Cold Weather Event of February 1-5, 2011

Our Recent Publications and Filings

We regularly publish our positions on infrastructure resilience and make filings on regulatory dockets.

• Our presentation titled "Causes and Costs of the ERCOT Load Sheds in February 2021"
  
• Our presentation titled "What CAISO Didn't Tell You About the August Blackouts"
  
• Our presentation titled "August 2020 Blackouts in CAISO"
• Our comments on "Revisions to Regulations on Electric Reliability Organization Performance Assessments," FERC Docket No. RM21-12-000
• Submission to U.S. Department of Energy on “Securing the United States Bulk-Power System”
• ​Comments on the Cybersecurity Incentives White Paper of the FERC Staff
• ​Preserving Operational Continuity for Electric Utility Control Rooms During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• "Estimating the Cost of Protecting the U.S. Electric Grid from Electromagnetic Pulse"
• "Protecting U.S. Electric Grid Communications from Electromagnetic Pulse"

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Recent News Stories Quoting Us

Media sources often rely on our experts for background and perspective.

• "Experts mull market, reliability rule changes amid Texas, regional outages" in S&P Global Market Intelligence on February 16, 2021
• "Regulators: Utilities to Buy Energy to Prevent Blackouts" in U.S. News & World Report on February 11, 2021
• ​"Global Power Sector Supply Chain Threatens National Security" in T&D World on July 28, 2020
• “Made in America, protecting the power grid” in The Washington Times on May 6, 2020
• "U.S. Moves to Address ‘Extraordinary Threat’ From Some Foreign Electric Gear" in The Wall Street Journal on May 1, 2020

Full list of Media Quotes

Recent Developments

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Papers and articles relevant to our mission:

• ​Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy, Volume 1, Number 2, Winter/Fall 2020
• California ISO releases preliminary report on causes of August 14-15, 2020 blackouts.
• Energy Futures Initiative, led by former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, advocates for a new approach for carbon reduction: “Green Real Deal; A Framework for Achieving a Deeply Decarbonized Economy.
• ​First Energy fires CEO and other senior executives after alleged $61M bribery.
• ​​2020 Department of Defense Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy

Resilience News

COVID-19 News

Our Tweets

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The Foundation for Resilient Societies in Numbers

5
Ongoing Research Efforts

12
​Invited Testimonies

​35
​Conference Speakerships

37
Quotes in Media Outlets

61
​Position Briefs to Governments

2500+
Contacts in Our Network

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Donate to Boost Infrastructure Resilience

Our ongoing work to boost critical infrastructure resilience relies on donations from people like you. Please consider contributing today to the Foundation for Resilient Societies, a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

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