CARTHAGE, N.C. — Duke Energy estimates Moore County residents will have power again by “early Thursday,” according to a message on the website.
A targeted attack on two power substations left many concerned about potential security weaknesses in the wider power grid.
The outage impacted nearly every Duke Energy customer in Moore County – roughly 45,000 people.
This included people who depend on electricity for medical purposes, whether at home or in nursing facilities. The outages also triggered a State of Emergency: School has been canceled, a curfew has been implemented and criminals have taken advantage of the outages with increased breaking and entering incidents, including attempting to break into a gun store. Families are struggling to stay warm without heating systems during the cold weather, and worrying about how to feed themselves when their food goes bad without refrigeration.
Not the first time the power grid in NC has been attacked
Just last month, on Nov. 11, a substation in Carteret County was damaged by vandals. The station belonged to the Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative (CCEC), near Maysville. More than 12,000 CCEC members were without power for approximately two hours as a result.
“CCEC monitors its system constantly, and soon after the outage occurred, crews were dispatched to begin the restoration process and found that the Maysville substation had been vandalized,” said officials in a release.
The vandals damaged transformers and caused them to leak coolant oil. The total cost of the damage is expected to exceed $500,000.
When asked about security measures at the two power substations damaged in Moore County, Jeff Brooks. a spokesperson for Duke Energy, said, “For security reasons, we don’t speak specifically about measures we have at our facilities. What I can say is that Duke Energy incorporates multiple layers of security across its system to monitor and protect critical infrastructure.”
Officials have yet to answer whether or not the substations were guarded by security cameras.
Given that both Moore County substations, which are about five miles apart, were targeted in a gunfire attack, many customers want to know how authorities will ensure this cannot happen in the future.
Consider there are hundreds of electric substations across the state, each one a potential target. In this case, one substation was shot up and within an hour, another.
“We know there may be some things that need to change to make sure our infrastructure is protected,” said Cooper.
So how vulnerable is our electric grid?
“Well, I would have liked to have thought that is is less vulnerable than it apparently is,” said Jon Wellnghoff, CEO of Grid Policy and former head of the Federal Energy Regulator Commission. He says it doesn’t take much sophistication to take out a transformer.
“A deer rifle is sufficient,” he said.
Spokesman Jeff Brooks says Duke Energy continues to invest in cyber and physical security along its grid. However, Wellinghoff says, unlike those in Moore County, substations should be blocked from view with walls, sandbags, or even an opaque fence wrapping.
“The grid is still vulnerable, and it’s still relatively inexpensive to mitigate those vulnerabilities and we should be moving forward as rapidly as possible to address the problem,” said Wellinghoff.
What we know about the targeted attack in Moore County
The outages started Saturday after 7 p.m. after a targeted attack using gunfire, according to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office. According to Duke Energy, crews are making progrss and power should be restored by early Thursday.
The damaged substations are around 5 miles apart, located in West End and Carthage.
All Moore County schools were closed Monday and Tuesday, and the American Red Cross has opened a 24-hour shelter to help thousands of people lacking heat, medical care and other necessities during a mass power outage.
Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said just before midnight that the outage was being investigated as a “criminal occurrence.”
A state of emergency was declared in Moore County Sunday at 4 p.m., and a curfew is in place from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
“We faced something last night in Moore County we’ve never faced before,” said Fields at a press conference Sunday.
Fields said that crews at the substations found “extensive damage” when inspecting the equipment; He also said that there was evidence that firearms had been used to disable the equipment.
Fields said the Moore County Sheriff’s Office is working with state and local law enforcement and will continue to investigate the incident. When asked if this was an incident of domestic terrorism, Fields replied, “I can’t answer that,” but added, “This was targeted. It wasn’t random.”
Fields said authorities are treating the investigation as “criminal intent.”
“As we complete the investigation could it rise to that level [of domestic terrorism]? Absolutely,” Fields said.
Investigators aren’t sure if there is a tie between the substation damage and a drag show at the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines that sparked a lot of controversy in the area.
There was heavy security at the drag show amid concerns about protesters and fears of possible violence.
Fields did have strong words for the shooters.
“Cowardly is what I’d call it,” Fields said. “We don’t have anything. No motivation and no group has stepped up to acknowledge or accept what has been done. I call them cowards.”
Anyone with any information should contact the Moore County Sheriff’s Office at 910-947-2931.
Timeline for restoration
At a press conference Sunday, spokesperson Jeff Brooks said Duke Energy is continuing to work around the clock on the outages, but due to the extent and nature of the damage, restoration could take days.
North Carolina Emergency Management, state and local law enforcement officials are working in a coordinated response with Duke Energy to restore power as quickly as possible. State and federal law enforcement are on the ground and have begun investigating in coordination with local law enforcement.
Fields said Moore County sheriff’s deputies and various other law enforcement agencies provided additional site security as utility crews worked.
“We’re pursuing multiple paths for restoration in efforts to bring service back on as quickly as possible; however, due to the nature of the damage incurred many customers should prepare for an outage that could extend to as late as Thursday, Dec. 8,” Duke Energy said.
The former head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Jon Wellinghoff explained the severity of the damage to WRAL News.
“Somebody with a high-powered rifle puts a bullet through the case of a transformer and once it goes into the case of the transformer it hits the coils of the transformer, shorts it out, and it’s gone; That that device is no longer operable,” said Wellinghoff. “It can’t be fixed, it needs to be replaced. It cannot be repaired.”
Wellinghoff also shared insight into the repair process.
“A lot of these transformers also are sort of one-offs. It’s not like you can cookie-cutter replace them with another one from some other utility in the next county or the next state,” said Wellinghoff. “They have to be made sort of custom for the particular substation that they’re in. So if they don’t have spares for that particular substation, it could take a considerable amount of time.”
Community coping after massive blackout
People are coming together in Moore County to provide help for their neighbors during this unexpected outage.
A shelter has been opened at the Moore County Sports Complex. Officials said if you need transportation you should call the Emergency Operations Center.
The Red Cross is also assisting, with room for 250 occupants at a shelter.
On Monday around 4 p.m., multiple vendors showed up outside the Food Lion at 1005 Monroe Street in Carthage to provide free food for residents.
On Dec. 6, each of the six Food Lion stores in Moore County will distribute free water to county residents to care for neighbors impacted by the current power outage. Each family will receive one case of water, while supplies last.
Moore County Schools said Sunday that although a few schools did have power in the northern parts of the county, all schools were affected by the outage. All Moore County Schools will be closed Monday, Dec. 5 and Tuesday, Dec. 6 for students and staff.
“I appreciate the swift response from local and state emergency responders in Moore County to protect public safety and work with Duke Energy to restore power,” said Gov. Roy Cooper. “An attack like this on critical infrastructure is a serious, intentional crime and I expect state and federal authorities to thoroughly investigate and bring those responsible to justice. Moore County has strong, vibrant communities and the state will continue to provide transportation and public safety assistance.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)