SightLogix has published a whitepaper which clarifies the new mandatory physical security requirements in the NERC CIP-014 reliability standard, developed by the North American Energy Reliability Corporation (NERC) for protecting the nation?s electric grid. The whitepaper details how smart thermal security solutions can help owners/operators meet the requirements of NERC while also addressing copper theft and vandalism challenges.

?The need for reliable intrusion detection systems to protect electrical assets has never been higher,? said John Romanowich, CEO, SightLogix. ?The concepts outlined in the NERC standards represent a sound and effective security practice for detecting and responding to breaches quickly, and smart thermal technology is ideally suited to meet the real-time awareness NERC requires for protecting the nation?s power grid.?

Titled A Commonsense Guide to Protecting Electrical Substations and Meeting NERC CIP-014, the document includes a synopsis of the NERC CIP-014 guidelines and how those guidelines can be met with thermal detection solutions.

Illustrating by example, there is also a case study outlining how a major U.S. utility improved security and lowered costs using smart thermal cameras.

Traditionally, utilities have relied on a combination of some type of blind sensor —such as a fence sensor, beam, scanner or PIR sensor to act as an activity detector— along with video security solutions.

However, according to Mr. Romanowich, the reliability and accountability of these systems is diminished by the many nuisance alerts they generate.

Smart thermal cameras that incorporate video analytics increase the probability of intruder detection while greatly reducing the nuisance alarms.

SightLogix smart thermal camera systems are being used at utilities throughout North America, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, protecting assets that include substations, solar farms, hydro facilities, power transmission and distribution, and nuclear power plants.

The white paper can be downloaded here.