President Trump on August 26, 2026, signed Executive Order 14420 declaring a national emergency over foreign threats to the U.S. bulk-power system — the high-voltage transmission network that powers the national grid. Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the order bars new acquisitions, imports, and installations of foreign-produced grid equipment — including transformers, inverters, battery storage systems, and industrial control systems — whenever the Secretary of Energy determines the transaction poses undue risk of sabotage, cyberattack, or supply disruption tied to a 'Covered Foreign Entity.' For equipment already in service, DOE may require operators to identify, isolate, monitor, or replace it. The administration cites surging electricity demand from AI, data centers, and defense production as magnifying the consequences of any successful attack. The order updates a similar Trump-era measure from 2020 that the Biden administration revoked. A concrete backdrop: in May 2025, Reuters reported that U.S. officials had found undocumented cellular radios inside Chinese-made solar inverters, devices that could allow remote manipulation of grid equipment. A key open question is implementation: DOE has 120 days to publish rules defining which countries and vendors qualify as covered threats, and compliance costs and equipment-replacement timelines for utilities remain unresolved.