Space Weather Advisory Group User Needs Survey: Preliminary Results from the Electric Power Sector

In the fall of 2020, Congress unanimously passed, both in the House and the Senate, the Promoting Research and Observations of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow (PROSWIFT) Act, signed into Public Law: 116-181 in October 2020. In accordance with section 60601 of the PROSWIFT Act, NOAA established the first ever Federal Advisory Group to advise the Office of Science and Technology Policy Space Weather Operations Research and Mitigation (SWORM) Subcommittee. The PROSWIFT Act directs SWAG members to receive advice from the academic community, the commercial space weather sector, and space weather end users that will inform the interests and work of the SWORM. The PROSWIFT Act states the first order of business for the SWAG is to conduct the mandated comprehensive survey of the needs of users of space weather products to identify the space weather research, observations, forecasting, prediction, and modeling advances required to improve space weather products. The survey shall: (1) Assess the adequacy of Federal Government goals for lead time, accuracy, coverage, timeliness, data rate, and data quality for space weather observations and forecasting; (2) Identify options and methods, in consultation with the academic and commercial space weather sectors, to advance the above goals; (3) Identify opportunities for collection of data to address needs of space weather users; (4)Identify methods to increase coordination of space weather R2O2R; (5) Identify opportunities for new technologies, research, and instrumentation to aid in understanding, monitoring, modeling, prediction, and warning of space weather; and (6) Identify methods and technologies to improve preparedness for space weather. In August 2023, SWAG with support from the IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) and in coordination with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), convened focus groups of North American electricity grid owners and operators for the purpose of obtaining feedback on their use of space weather information and how space weather information services can be improved. The survey was conducted with both in-person and remote (via webex) participants who voluntarily responded to the open invitation from NERC to all registered NERC entities. Participants engaged in moderated discussion of 18 questions designed by SWAG to gauge the level of familiarity with current space weather observations, information and services; how they are used to reduce risk and promote resilience to space weather; and what new or improved products and services would support enhanced resilience of the power grid to space weather. This talk will provide preliminary results of the SWAG Power Sector Survey and discuss follow-on activities and next steps for SWAG and the space weather community.