The US is witnessing a new kind of ‘vandalism’ – extremists attacking the nation’s power grids. In Seattle’s Tacoma, Christmas Day celebrations were affected for more than 14,000 residents as power was knocked out following vandalism at four power stations in the western US state of Washington.
This is not the first time this year that such an incident has affected power supply in the United States. Earlier in December, more than 45,000 homes descended into darkness in North Carolina’s Moore County following an attack on nearby substations.
According to Politico, which in a report examined federal records on attacks on power stations, substations, and related equipment, assaults are at the “highest level since at least 2012, including 101 reported this year through the end of August. The previous peak was the 97 incidents recorded for all of 2021.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating both cases and have included the unknown conspirators of the Moore County outage under the ‘most wanted category’.
Before the Seattle and North Carolina substation attacks, a total of six separate attacks on electrical substations were reported from the states of Oregon and Washington, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Substations belonging to Portland General Electric, the Bonneville Power Administration, Cowlitz County Public Utility District and Puget Sound Energy were attacked using firearms which led to power outages for thousands of people.
The Bonneville Power Administration said the attacks were ‘deliberate’.
Electrical substations are important parts of a city’s or even a nation’s electric grid which lightens up entire regions or nations. These substations convert high-voltage electricity that travels across long-distance transmission lines to decrease the voltages used by businesses and households.
These are mostly unmanned and are built in the middle of nowhere.
Washington’s Pierce County police in a press release said there were three separate site invasions and damages were made to the substation but could not conclude if they were coordinated.
However, there are fears that the American white-supremacist groups or groups which adhere to neo-Nazi ideologies could be planning to take down the entire electrical network of the United States.
According to a January memo released by the Department of Homeland Security, violent extremists ‘developed credible, specific plans to attack electricity infrastructure from at least 2020, identifying the electric grid as a particularly attractive target given its interdependence with other infrastructure sectors.’
Three men pleaded guilty in February to plotting to use rifles and explosives to damage power stations in various locations in Columbus, Ohio.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said these men planned ‘a disturbing plot, in furtherance of white supremacist ideology, to attack energy facilities in order to damage the economy and stoke division in our country.’
Earlier in 2013, a substation in the state of California was attacked as a result of one or more people firing close to 100 rounds at the station, damaging 17 high voltage transformers and causing damages worth $15 million.
US officials are investigating eight incidents in four states.
(with inputs from AFP, the National Review and other agencies)
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