FBI thwarts Maryland grid threat against BGE with arrest of two

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Monday it had thwarted a plot against Baltimore Gas & Electric’s substations with the arrest of a man and woman intent on taking out the electric grid with gunfire.

According to the DOJ, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 34, of Catonsville, Maryland, and Brandon Clint Russell, 27, of Orlando, Florida, were arrested on Feb. 3 and charged with conspiracy to destroy an energy facility.

Officials said the two planned to attack several substations across Baltimore to cripple the city’s electricity infrastructure. The DOJ said that since June of last year Russell had been planning attacks against electrical substations including using a mylar balloon to short out a power transformer. Clendaniel joined in planning the attack intending to fire into multiple substations on the same day using a rifle.

Russell said the attack should be on a day “when there is greatest strain on the grid,” like “when everyone is using electricity to either heat or cool their homes.” Using open-source maps of infrastructure showing the locations of substations, Russell said a small number of attacks on the substations would cause a “cascading failure” and that hitting multiple substations at the same time would maximize the attack’s impact.

Clendaniel allegedly stated that if they hit a number of electrical substations all in the same day, they “would completely destroy this whole city,” and that a “good four or five shots through the center of them . . . should make that happen.” Clendaniel said the attacks “would probably permanently completely lay this city to waste if we could do that successfully.”

“Attacks on multiple electrical substations in Maryland would have caused suffering to thousands of Americans going about their everyday lives, but the FBI and our partners put a stop to that threat,” said Assistant Director Robert R. Wells of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “According to the criminal complaint, the defendants allegedly were taking specific steps to carry out their plans, including selecting targets and trying to illegally acquire a rifle. The FBI and our partners will hold accountable all those who commit criminal acts that threaten the safety of those in our communities, regardless of their motivations.”

Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) said it is cooperating with the investigation.

“We are working closely with the FBI and state and local law enforcement as they continue their investigation, and we are thankful for their vigilance and the precautions taken to protect the electric grid for our customers and employees,” the company said in a statement. “Law enforcement acted before the perpetrators were able to carry out their plan, and there was no damage to any of the substations, nor was any service disrupted. The substations are not believed to have been targeted out of any connection to BGE or Exelon, or because of any particular vulnerability.”

The arrest comes just months after attacks on substations in Washington, Oregon and North Carolina left thousands without power in December. The Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have raised concerns in past months about potential threats to the electric grid from extremists and domestic terrorists.

Scott Aaronson, senior vice president of Security and Preparedness at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) praised the federal government’s response.

“EEI and our member companies appreciate the extraordinary work of law enforcement to thwart attacks by violent extremists against electric substations in Baltimore Gas & Electric’s service area. The strong partnership between industry and government is key to our defenses, and we value the nonstop work of government officials at all levels to help defend this most critical infrastructure,” he said in a statement. “We strongly condemn any threats against—or attacks on—the energy grid. We will work closely with law enforcement at all levels to ensure these criminals are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”