FBI offers rewards on top of those N.C. officials offered for intel on substation saboteurs; security a national concern

Rural substations are particularly vulnerable.
(Photo by Kate Medley, The New York Times)

The FBI is offering $25,000 apiece "for information that leads to the arrest of whoever shot up two electric substations in North Carolina on Dec. 3." Soon after the incidents, "A $75,000 reward was posted jointly by the Moore County Sheriff’s Office, the state and county governments for . . . information 'leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible'," Jonathan Bym reports for The Pilot in Southern Pines, N.C. "Along with the attacks in Moore County that left approximately 45,000 Duke Energy customers without power, a shooting that occurred in Randolph County that damaged an EnergyUnited substation in the western part of the county on Jan. 17 is also being investigated by the FBI."

"The authorities have not arrested anyone or identified any motive," reports Michael Levenson of The New York Times. "Over the last three months, at least nine substations have been attacked in North Carolina, Washington State and Oregon, cutting power to tens of thousands. . . . After those attacks, federal regulators ordered a review of security standards for the electrical system. . . . John Wellinghoff, a former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said that smaller substations in rural areas remain protected by little more than chain-link fencing, security cameras and lighting. That leaves them vulnerable to rifle attacks. . . . Larger plots against a 'finite number' of substations nationwide, which, if disabled, would knock out power in half the country." Wellinghoff pointed out, "Lives are at stake," because of threats to heating and medical equipment.

Attack motivations could be a complex blend. Lewis reports: "From 2016 to 2022, white-supremacist plots targeting energy systems 'dramatically increased in frequency,' according to a study released in September by researchers at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. The study attributed the targeting of the energy sector to the rise of 'accelerationism,' a term white supremacists have adopted to describe their desire to hasten the collapse of society. . . . While most of the warnings have focused on right-wing extremists, a man who was convicted of firing a rifle at a Utah substation in 2016 told a confidential witness that he wanted to 'destroy industrial capitalism.'"

Manny Cancel, chief executive of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a clearinghouse for information about threats against the electrical system, told Lewis that cyberattacks were more likely to cause widespread outages than guns and explosives. Cancel noted to Lewis: “I do think there is a level of protection, of resilience, that’s built into the grid." The question is “Is there more that we should do?”

 

UPDATE, Feb. 7: Two Neo-Nazis, including the founder of Atomwaffen, have been accused of plotting an attack on the Maryland power grid, report Rachel Weiner, Jasmine Hilton and Dan Morse of The Washington Post. "The charges come amid a spate of sabotage targeting power stations across the country. . . . Most of the cases remain unsolved, but authorities and experts say they follow increased interest among white supremacists in targeting electric infrastructure."