North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for damaging two electrical substations in Moore County.
The state’s reward brings the combined total amount offered to find the culprit to $75,000, with Duke Energy and Moore County offering $25,000 each.
FILE – Power transmission lines deliver electricity to rural Orange County on Aug. 14, 2018, near Hillsborough, North Carolina. Investigators believe a shooting on Saturday, December 3, 2022 that damaged electrical substations in North Carolina was a crime. The shooting serves as a reminder why experts have emphasized the need to secure the US power grid. Authorities have warned that the nation’s power infrastructure could be a vulnerable target for domestic terrorists.
(AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)
“An attack on our critical infrastructure will not be tolerated,” Cooper said. “I appreciate the coordinated efforts of law enforcement to leave no stone unturned in the search for the criminals who did this, and I thank Moore County and Duke Energy for matching the state’s reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the responsible”.
POWER OUTAGE IN NORTH CAROLINA: DUKE ENERGY SAYS ALL DAMAGE TO EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN FIXED
Two substations operated by Duke Energy were leveled by gunfire Saturday night at approximately 7 p.m., leaving more than 40,000 people without power.
Federal, state and local officials have said the attack was intentional and no motive had been disclosed as of Wednesday.
Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields described the incident as something the county had never faced before, saying extensive damage was found at two substations caused by gunshots.
North Carolina is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction for shootings that destroyed two substations and caused widespread power outages in Moore County.
(Photographer: Jim R. Bounds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
NORTH CAROLINA SHERIFF SAYS ‘INTENTIONAL VANDALISM’ AT SUBSTATIONS CAUSED POWER OUTAGES FOR 40K CUSTOMERS
On Monday, the FBI joined the investigation into the incident, which was already being investigated by county police and the State Bureau of Investigation, or SBI.
Fields said Sunday that he had no information on the truth of rumors that the blackouts were somehow related to a protest at a drag show. “No, none that I know of. Is it possible? Yes, anything is possible. But we haven’t been able to connect anything to the drag show,” Fields told reporters on Sunday.
NORTH CAROLINA POWER OUTAGE: FEDERAL MEMO INDICATES WASHINGTON AND OREGON SUBSTATION ATTACKS SIMILAR TO MOORE COUNTY
Duke Energy’s Jeff Brooks originally expected the blackouts to last until Thursday, but restoration times have been pushed forward to Wednesday.
“During our investigation of the outage, we determined that there was an intentional impact on the substation, which damaged multiple equipment in the substation and caused a power outage,” Brooks said. “Unlike, perhaps, a storm, where you could walk in and divert power somewhere else, that wasn’t an option in this case, so the repair needs to be completed. In many cases, some of that equipment will have to be replaced, and our crews are currently working on the repair plan.”
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As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, only one person was listed without power in Moore County, according to PowerOutage.us.
