When members of the green community are asked why they support renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, they mostly cite that they’re environmentally friendly. The damage both coal and nuclear energy does is well-known. Even hydro energy, though it is renewable, can possibly affect environments, especially for those along rivers downstream from hydro energy dams.

Another major reason the green community supports renewable energy sources, though they may not mention it as much, is independence from the power grid. By investing in solar or wind energy, a single household can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year. As a result, big electricity companies have retaliated politically. Such actions include the mandating of all residential dwellings to be connected to the power grid, or making sure all renewable energy technology is supplemental to grid power.

However, is it better to not be connected to the power grid, independently depending on solar and wind energy? Reason for asking is because a new report states the U.S. power grid is attacked every four days. That means a nationwide blackout is likely to happen.

According to Off The Grid News, reporters in USA Today analyzed federal energy records to find the power grid is attacked, either it be cybernetic or physical, nearly 100 times per year. Ergo, government officials and grid experts are growing more concerned that it is just a matter of time before one attack is successful.

The worst part of a successful attack is the possibility of a rolling or cascading power outage that may affect the entire United States. What that means is if a portion of the power grid does shut down, its effects may transfer over to neighboring portions of the grid and so on, as detailed in their report.

“Because the nation’s electrical grid operates as an interdependent network, the failure of any one element requires energy to be drawn from other areas. If multiple parts fail at the same time, there is the potential for a cascading effect that could leave millions in the dark for days, weeks or longer.”

People would think with so many attacks on the power grid, security would be increased to protect it, right? Unfortunately, that seems not to be true. Time focused more so on the part of the report in which power grid attacks may go unnoticed for several hours. This gives saboteurs plenty of time to cover their tracks and escape. An example of this is when police investigated an attack happening back in April of 2013 on a California substation until several hours after shots were fired. To this day, those attackers have never been found or identified.

Now that you know the power grid is constantly attacked, what are your views about the situation. Is it enough of a threat for people to invest in off-the-grid renewable energy alternatives like solar and wind?

[Image via Justin Sullivan / Getty Images]