Government, power industry coordinate to protect nation’s grid in wake of N.C. substation attacks
Duke Energy said Tuesday it anticipates having power restored to nearly all customers by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday in the aftermath of an attack on two major substations in Moore County, N.C., on Saturday.
Leaders in the power industry are coordinating with state, local and federal law enforcement officials who are investigating the attacks that occurred on Dec. 3 when an individual or individuals fired on the substations, damaging them beyond repair, officials said.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said his state will be reviewing what can be done to harden the state’s critical infrastructure in the wake of attacks on power substations that left 45,000 residents without power last weekend.
Cooper said during a press conference Monday the attack on two substations in Moore County on Saturday night was being looked at as domestic terrorism.
“I’m always concerned about critical infrastructure and we certainly need to learn from this incident as to what we may need to do because these kinds of things cannot happen,” Gov. Cooper said. “I know that with our power sector, water infrastructure — we know that potential vulnerabilities are there,” he said. “We will be evaluating ways to work with our utility providers and our state and federal officials to make sure that we harden our infrastructure where that’s necessary.”
It’s not immediately clear whether the attacks were carried out simultaneously or one after the other, officials said. The two substations are located about five miles from each other. One of the substations had a gate breached, officials said.
Duke Energy said that about 10,000 residents had power restored to them, and that approximately 35,000 customers in the area remain without power – down from 45,000 who were initially affected when the two substations were vandalized.
“Repairing and replacing this equipment is a methodical process that takes several days,” Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy’s general manager, Emergency Preparedness, said on Tuesday. “Once repairs are made, we must test the equipment before beginning the final restoration process. We sincerely appreciate the patience and understanding our customers have shown.”
Substations regulate voltage coming from generation sources like power plants, the company said, and are essential in delivering electricity to homes and businesses. The company is asking all residents to turn off appliances that may have been on when the power went out to prevent a surge when it comes back on.
The CEO-led Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) – which serves as the main liaison between senior federal officials and electric power industry leaders – said it is working closely with law enforcement officials who are investigating the attacks.
“In the wake of this weekend’s criminal events, we appreciate the ongoing collaboration of our federal partners and their level of outreach to ensure that the entire energy industry maintains a vigilant and secure posture,” the organization said in a statement. “Understanding what happened in North Carolina will be important to minimize future threats and to keep our industry’s defenses at the forefront.”
The ESCC convened on Monday evening to ensure a unified response to the attacks across industry and government. U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary David Turk, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Executive Director Brandon Wales, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard Glick, National Security Council Deputy Homeland Security Advisor for Resilience and Response Caitlin Durkovich, and senior officials from the FBI and other government agencies participated in the call.
“The nation’s electricity providers — investor-owned electric companies, electric cooperatives, and public power utilities — continuously monitor and prepare for threats to the grid and other infrastructure,” the council said.
Federal officials have said they’re concerned about the possibility of “copycat” attacks.
“We’ve obviously been monitoring this very, very closely and we’re in contact with local officials. In fact, local officials and specifically local law enforcement are getting federal support on the investigation. So we’re going to obviously let that investigation play out,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “I think we’ve heard the President talk about this many times. He’s made critical infrastructure security and the resilience of that infrastructure, that regardless of whether it’s from natural threats, or manmade threats, he’s made it a priority since the very, very beginning.”
