South Dakota has been selected by the National Governors Association to participate in a workshop on efforts to protect the nation's power grid.
The NGA's Center for Best Practices has also invited authorities from Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin. The summit is set for January of 20-18.
Tony Mangan with the Department of Public Safety says the workshop will allow officials to debrief after the Grid X Four exercise simulates a cyber attack against the electrical grid and other pieces of infrastructure.
"The Grid Exercise is being held throughout the country next week. And, it's a confidential exercise, so lots of information is not being discussed. But what will happen then is in January, representatives of the five states will come together - they'll look at what happened during that grid exercise. And then they'll talk to experts and some ideas, some action steps that other states can use to protect their own systems," Mangan says.
?The grid exercise is conducted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. The test takes place every two years.
Mangan says state agencies have worked with local governments and private firms like electric companies on protective measures.