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// Case Study · Utilities & Critical Infrastructure

Protecting the grid — and warning the public.

A water & power utility hardened SCADA-adjacent sites with physical security and tied operational alarms to public warning — meeting AWIA and NERC CIP while keeping crews safe.

ClientRegional water & power utility
RegionPacific Northwest
Deployment12 months
Scale18 facilities · 1.1M served
Deployment SnapshotOPERATIONAL
PerimeterAI video + intrusionSECURED
SCADA alarmsOp-to-alert bridgeLINKED
Public warningMass notificationARMED
18
Facilities
1.1M
Residents served
24/7
Security ops
100%
CIP audit pass
// The Operational Reality

Unmanned critical sites, and a gap between the control room and the public.

Substations and pump stations sat unmanned and exposed, with AWIA risk-and-resilience obligations the utility couldn't fully evidence. Physical security was a mix of dated cameras nobody watched.

Most critically, operational alarms never reached the public: a dam or flood condition in SCADA had no automatic path to the downstream warning sirens.

Exposed unmanned sitesSubstations and pump stations lacked monitored physical security.
AWIA / CIP mandatesRisk-and-resilience and NERC CIP evidence was incomplete.
Control-room-to-public gapSCADA alarms had no automatic link to public warning.
Dam / flood obligationsDownstream notification depended on manual action.
// The HQE Solution

A unified system, engineered to fit.

HQE hardened the sites, watched them around the clock, and bridged the SCADA alarm directly to the public sirens.

1
Harden

AI video + intrusion

Critical sites get AI video analytics and intrusion detection, monitored 24/7 from a security operations center.

2
Bridge

SCADA-to-alert

Operational alarms cross a secure bridge into SiSA, so a dam or flood condition can drive warning automatically.

3
Warn

Downstream siren network

A voice-siren network covers the inundation zone, activated the instant the operational threshold is crossed.

4
Certify

AWIA / NERC CIP package

HQE delivers the documentation and SOC processes that satisfy AWIA and NERC CIP audits.

// Systems Deployed

The stack behind it.

Every deployment integrates the systems you already own, unified through HQE's proprietary ML/AI-powered ecosystem — all in one pane of glass.

Electronic Security SiSA Alert Software Intelligent Voice Sirens AI Video Analytics SCADA Integration
// How We Deliver

From survey to sustained operations.

A disciplined, mission-grade delivery process — the same five phases on every HQE engagement.

01

Assess

RF / coverage survey, threat model & compliance gap analysis on-site.

02

Design

System design engineered to your existing infrastructure, facilities and mandates, regardless of the brands already installed.

03

Integrate

Bridge existing systems — alarms, access, C2 — into one pane of glass.

04

Deploy

Phased install, load-testing, live drills & operator certification.

05

Sustain

24/7 monitoring, supervised health & lifecycle support contract.

// The Outcome

Measurable mission impact.

0

Sites monitored 24/7

Every critical facility under continuous AI-assisted watch.

0%

AWIA / CIP pass

Documentation and controls cleared the resilience audit.

0

Automatic flood warning

A SCADA threshold now arms the downstream public sirens itself.

An operational alarm at the dam now triggers the downstream sirens automatically. We closed the gap between the control room and the public.
SRDirector of Security & ResilienceRegional utility
// Explore More

Related industries.

// Built for Utilities & Critical Infrastructure

Let's design your Public Utilities solution.

Tell us your operational pain-points. Our veteran-led team will engineer a future-proof, fully-integrated life-safety & security solution around them.