Critical Infrastructure
When the Power Stops, What Else Go Out?
We rarely think about electricity when it works. The lights turn on. Traffic lights change. Payments go through. Fuel pumps work. Businesses open and public services run. Energy is so deeply embedded in everyday life that its presence has become almost invisible.
Common Effort
Until it stops.
Then the problem is no longer simply that the lights are out. A loss of power can quickly disrupt the systems that depend on it. Bridges may no longer operate as intended. Payment systems can go offline. Fuel stations may be unable to pump. Processes in both civilian and military life depend on infrastructure continuing to function.
The real vulnerability is not only the energy system itself. It is everything that depends on it.
A system we rarely notice
Modern society is built on continuity.
We expect electricity to be available when we need it, wherever we need it. Behind that expectation is a complex network of infrastructure and organisations working continuously to keep society moving.
Most of the time, this works so well that we barely notice it.
That makes energy infrastructure different from many other forms of critical infrastructure. Its importance is not always visible in the infrastructure itself, but in what happens around it when it is no longer available.
A power outage at home may be an inconvenience.
A prolonged disruption across a region is something else entirely.
The longer systems remain without power, the more dependencies become visible. Communication, transport, payments, production and public services can all be affected. One system stopping can make it harder for another system to continue functioning.
So how to prepare?
The Baltic states illustrate the importance of this continuity.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have disconnected from the Russian electricity grid and synchronised their systems with the European network. The project involved the technical transformation of their electricity systems, but also demonstrated how central energy infrastructure is to the functioning of a society.
The changing environment also affected the protection of critical energy sites. In the Baltic states, physical protection of key energy infrastructure shifted from private security guards towards state security services. The technical work remained largely with civilian companies, while military and allied security structures became involved in the wider security environment.
But beneath these organisational questions lies something more fundamental:
What happens to a society when the systems it normally takes for granted stops moving?
The struggle to keep moving
A disruption rarely stays neatly within one system.
An energy company may be focused on restoring the electricity supply. At the same time, other organisations may already be dealing with the consequences: transport systems, businesses, public authorities or emergency services.
Priorities differ; for one organisation, the problem is restoring power. For another, it is maintaining essential services. For another, it is dealing with the consequences of systems that are no longer functioning normally.
And the longer the disruption lasts, the more difficult it becomes to separate these problems.
This is where our dependence on energy becomes visible.
A system designed around continuous availability has to operate very differently when continuity can no longer be assumed.
Plans have to be reconsidered. Priorities may change. Information becomes more important. Decisions have to be made while the full consequences are still unclear.
And the original problem may no longer be the biggest problem.
The energy supply may have been the starting point. But after some time, the challenge becomes keeping society functioning around it.
How resilient is a society that has rarely had to experience what it means to stand still?
At the upcoming event multiple speakers discuss potential disruptions in the critical infrastructure e.g. Ilze Znotina, Robert-Jan de Bes and Sylvia van Eijnatten.
See Common Effort 2026 event page:
Sources:
Grid synchronisation and energy security - The Baltics case
Lithuania ramps up power grid security ahead of Russia decoupling | Euronews
Image:
Fire at the North Hyde Electricity Substation in Hayes on March 21, 2025 (Picture: Reuters)