(NewsNation) — A series of vandalism reports all through the nation — together with a pair of outages in North Carolina that left hundreds with out power for days — factors to vulnerabilities in securing a few of the nation’s power grids.
Following an incident final week that induced widespread power outages in North Carolina, Nexstar’s WNCN visited two substations and located they had been secured by solely a chain-link fence and a lock. There had been no seen security cameras or guards.
Law enforcement has lately been known as to research suspected acts of intentional vandalism in areas together with Florida and Washington state.
A substation within the Portland, Oregon, space was broken late final month. The individual or folks accountable had damaged by way of a security fence and broken gear within the substation yard, mentioned Doug Johnson, a spokesman for the Bonneville Power Administration.
“You always know there’s a threat out there,” Johnson mentioned. “We’re always looking for ways to further harden the system against sabotage. But for now, we are in compliance with the rules as they exist today.”
Other power firms and trade representatives informed NewsNation they’re following industry standards and federal guidelines.
But new efforts to focus on power grids could possibly be rising. An August memo by federal legislation enforcement detailed the time a suspected white supremacist entered an online chat and shared a file that contained substation places within the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The database makes use of public information from the Department of Homeland Security and reveals the precise coordinates of what’s believed to be each substation within the U.S. — together with a few of these lately struck in North Carolina, Florida and Oregon.
Duke Energy, the corporate impacted in North Carolina, beforehand issued the following statement:
We can’t touch upon any ongoing authorized proceedings or investigations. However, given the character and scale of our operations, we – alongside federal, state and native legislation enforcement and security officers and trade companions – are constantly assessing and evolving our measures to guard our vital infrastructure. That partnership contains serving to convey anybody, who damages our system, to justice.
Duke Energy
The North Carolina power outage stays under investigation.
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