A primary concern that electric utility operators have with public 4G/5G services is their emphasis on general-use services rather than mission-critical qualities that utilities require. Additionally, given recent global events, utility networks are increasingly becoming targets of cyberattacks. Unless careful measures are taken to harden their private 4G/5G networks for mission-critical support, utilities are at a greater risk of under-delivering reliable wireless services. This session will focus on key aspects of hardening private 4G/5G networks for mission-critical operations. In contrast to today’s prevalent field area network (FAN) architecture, which at best supports four nines availability (99.99%) and more frequently supports two nines (<~99.85%), distributed electric generation is driving grid applications toward enhanced performance and reliability. This session delves into strategies for fortifying the design and support of private 4G/5G networks to accommodate mission-critical services. Relying solely on high-availability cores and redundant backhaul designs is insufficient to meet these requirements. It has become imperative that utility operators establish and operate private networks that possess sufficient situational awareness to detect and rectify anomalies before compromising service quality. The session’s scope will encompass various aspects, including user equipment (UE), core network, radio access network (RAN), backhaul, and network operations center (NOC) issues.