Local utilities step up anti-hacking efforts

The threat of hackers is serious business, say local utility infrastructure operators, who add that they've improved their precautions.

ITC Midwest in Cedar Rapids operates the transmission grid formerly owned by Alliant Energy.

“Over the past five years, ITC has undertaken extensive measures to protect its physical and electronic assets from disruption and harm,” company spokesman tom Petersen said.

Petersen said ITC's control center in Michigan and its field operations incorporate leading-edge features to toward a physical or electronic break-in.

The transmission operator said its system security operations were cited last February by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation as an example of excellence as part of the international regulatory authority's Reliability Readiness Evaluation and Improvement Program.

Alliant Energy operates several power plants in Iowa, including the Prairie Creek Generating Station in Cedar Rapids.

“We recognize the vulnerability from a power plant perspective and are continuing to update our technology to stay one step ahead,” spokesman Ryan Stensland said.

Neither ITC nor Alliant would discuss specific security threats they have encountered.

MidAmerican Energy, which operates several Iowa power plants, and NextEra Energy, operator of the Duane Arnold Energy Center, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.