“The Unprotected Power Grid Will Be Our Civilization’s Death Warrant If We Don’t Act”: Doug Ellsworth
On March 13, 1989, an invisible storm slammed into Earth's magnetic field. Within 92 seconds, Quebec's power grid collapsed, plunging six million people into darkness. Transformers melted. Power surged and arced across the northeastern United States. The aurora borealis, normally visible only near the poles, blazed in the night sky as far south as Cuba.
This was not an attack by a foreign power. It was a geomagnetic disturbance—a solar storm. And it was relatively minor compared to what could come.
In 1859, a solar event known as the "Carrington Event" struck Earth with roughly ten times the intensity. Telegraph systems burst into flames. Operators received electric shocks. Had our modern electrical grid existed then, the damage would have been catastrophic on a scale few can comprehend.
"People assume the Carrington Event was the biggest one that ever hit Earth," Douglas Ellsworth tells me, his voice carrying the controlled urgency of someone who understands an existential threat that most ignore. "The fallacy there is that we have no idea what is to come."
Ellsworth is no doomsday prophet. He's a seasoned professional who spent decades in finance and security before becoming Co-Director of the Secure the Grid Coalition. Now, he's one of America's foremost advocates for protecting our electrical infrastructure against threats from space—both natural and man-made. And what keeps him up at night is the chilling reality that our modern civilization hangs by the thinnest of threads: a vulnerable electrical grid with critical components that could take years to replace if damaged.
Tell me about your background and how you became involved with the Secure the Grid Coalition. What drove your interest in grid security issues?
Ellsworth begins by describing his circuitous career path that ultimately led him to grid security advocacy. "I backed into this field much like I've done with everything in my career," he explains with a subtle smile. "My professional path has never been linear." His career began in finance in 1974, working with exchange-traded stock options before shifting to value-oriented investment strategies influenced by Benjamin Graham. By the 1990s, he had transitioned to business leadership, eventually owning Secure Communications Corporation, which developed network security systems used by federal agencies.
"September 11th fundamentally changed my professional direction," he continues. "I reconnected with colleagues in Omaha who worked in defense-related industries, and together we formed an educational organization called USAPACT."
Through this work, Ellsworth developed an interest in electromagnetic pulse threats, briefing a CERT conference on EMP issues in 2006. His networking eventually connected him with Tommy Waller at the Center for Security Policy, who invited him to become a member of the Secure the Grid Coalition. When Waller needed someone to step in temporarily, Ellsworth was selected.
"Tommy invited me to join the Secure the Grid Coalition about ten years ago, which I hadn't even known existed before then," he recalls. "About five years ago, when Tommy needed to return to his Marine Corps reserve duties, he asked if I could fill in as director for possibly six months. That interim role stretched to nine months, and I've remained deeply involved ever since."
What strikes me most about Ellsworth's story is the outrage that fuels his advocacy—outrage at discovering that those most capable of protecting critical infrastructure weren't taking the threats seriously.
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