Investing in Cyber Defense: A Value-Focused Analysis of Investment Decisions for Microgrids

To mitigate disruptions to commercial power grids, and to achieve operational efficiencies by managing energy use, many organizations are fielding smaller, local, self-contained microgrids. The computer control systems that operate the microgrids create new vulnerabilities to a rapidly-escalating array of cyber attacks. This creates a tension between the need to improve energy assurance and efficiency through microgrids, and the need to protect against cyber attacks that can disrupt and damage the organization’s energy systems. Through a series of interviews with subject matter experts and end-users, this exploratory study surfaces the decision-makers’ important values in this decision space and develops a network of those values to guide decision-makers to make better decisions in balancing these competing needs.