The increasing reliance of society on technology means the insurance industry needs to more fully consider the potential ramifications of extreme solar weather, says a report released Monday by reinsurance intermediary Aon Benfield.

The report, “Geomagnetic Storms,” is the first in a series that the unit of London-based Aon P.L.C. will release this year on low-probability, high-consequence events that pose substantial risks to industry and the economy.

Geomagnetic storms threaten three critical areas of modern infrastructure: electrical power distribution, telecommunications and global satellite navigation, the report states.

Of these, the power grid may be the most vulnerable. The report notes that a space weather event in March 1989 caused permanent damage to several major transformers, leading to an electric power blackout in Quebec that lasted 12 hours and affected 5 million people.

“Collapse of parts of the electric grid as a result of surges is potentially the most serious effect of a space weather event,” the report states. “Power failure to a wide area — potentially tens of thousands of square kilometers — could shut down lighting, heating, all major utilities, communications and transport, emergency services and retail trade.”

Likewise, geomagnetically induced currents threaten satellites in orbit by damaging on-board instruments, potentially degrading the GPS services relied upon by the government, industry and consumers.

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“A 2007 estimate put the number of operating satellites in orbit at 936 with a combined value between $170 billion and $230 billion,” the report states. “Possibly a third of these are insured.”

Given the widespread damage these events could cause, the insurance industry needs to develop broad-based contingent business interruption and extra expense products that require a physical damage trigger, the report concludes.

“Insurance policies and reinsurance treaties are likely to contain the legal triggers for liability in the event of the catastrophic failure of electricity distribution, telecommunications or satellite navigation networks,” the report states. “However, these contracts are unlikely to have been drafted with any degree of consideration for a loss occurrence of the type initiated by extreme solar weather.”