Socio-Technical Approaches to Risk Assessment in National Critical Infrastructures

Deregulation has created new market pressures for innovation across many national infrastructures. This, in turn, creates complex interdependencies. For example, in previous years both the US and European energy markets relied upon vertical integration. The same companies that generated the power were also, typically, responsible for its transmission to consumers. This market structure creates barriers to new generators who cannot access the transmission systems, which are owned and operated by their existing rivals. In consequence, successive administrations have introduced vertical separation of transmission and generation in order to increase competition and innovation in energy production. However, without complex regulatory mechanisms it can be hard to ensure that the underlying physical infrastructure can reliably support the transmission of energy from these new producers to their potential consumers. The stress created by large transfers of energy across aging infrastructures and unprecedented distances has been a cause of pan-regional blackouts across areas of Europe and North America (Johnson, 2008).