EMP hardening, however, is almost impossible. In an EMP, the pulse is targeted and passes through the conductive material (versus the conductor moving through the feild). The grid is too vast and conductive to insulate everything effectively, and EMPs are unpredictable in timing and location. EMPs can be particularly damaging to small, sensitive components, like microchips. A strong enough EMP could damage a substation transformer, though simpler threats like vandalism with firearms currently pose a bigger risk to transformers, which lack sufficient protection. So we can't harden substations to these kinds of attacks just like we can't harden them to basically any sort of direct assult. Our grid just isn't and can't be nuke proof, bullet proof, etc. Hell, they are not even squirrel proof.
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