4 Wash. power stations vandalized amid unsolved incidents nationwide

Original article here.

Investigators in Washington state continued to search Monday for suspects in a string of Christmas Day burglaries at four electrical substations near Tacoma, causing a fire at one location and leaving thousands without power.

Burglars broke through the fences as two substations run by Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) and two by Puget Sound Energy over a roughly 17-hour stretch beginning early Sunday. The burglaries left an estimated 14,000 customers in the dark on Christmas, with power mostly restored Monday.

The break-ins and resulting power outages were as frustrating for local residents as they were puzzling for local law enforcement, who said they are aware of “similar incidents occurring across the country.” The vandals did not take anything from the facilities and the motive is unclear, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said in a bulletin.

“The weirdest part about the whole thing is that this is all rural area; it’s not like it was Tacoma or downtown Seattle,” Sgt. Darren Moss Jr., a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department told The Washington Post on Monday. “If it was a message, who is it for? Or is just some people pulling a prank?”

The affected substations were in or near unincorporated and largely rural Pierce County, Moss said. He noted that the facilities were all unmanned but do have some security measures, though he couldn’t elaborate on the details. Fences outside the affected substations all showed signs of forced entry, he said.

Moss said the sheriff’s department would contact the FBI if it hadn’t already. A spokesperson with the FBI field office in Seattle on Monday would not confirm or deny it was investigating the Christmas Day incidents, only noting it regularly shares information with local law enforcement partners and “[takes] threats against our infrastructure seriously.”

Tacoma Power, a division of TPU, said in a statement that federal law enforcement earlier in the month sent it a security alert for the electrical grid. TPU did not respond to additional requests for comment Monday. A spokesperson for Puget Sound Energy (PSE) would only confirm the company was coordinating with authorities and that the vandalism incidents were under investigation.

“PSE has extensive measures to monitor, protect and minimize the risk to our equipment and infrastructure,” Andrew Padula, a spokesperson for PSE, said in an email.

The uncertainty over who carried out the Christmas Day burglaries and why they did it comes weeks after more than a half-dozen still-unsolved incidents at power stations in North Carolina, Oregon and Washington state led to power outages and other disruptions. Those incidents come as a rise in the number of human-caused power grid attacks and disruptions deepen concerns over the vulnerability of the United States’ aging and strained grid infrastructure.

While the power grid has plenty of challenges due to climate change-driven temperature swings and extreme weather, it’s just as susceptible to sabotage from humans who can use low-tech tactics — like firing bullets at equipment or throwing chains on top of busbars coils and switches above a transformer — to create high-impact damage.

Earlier this month, two electrical substations in Moore County, N.C., were struck with gunfire in what the FBI described as “willful damage.” Thousands of residents in the affected area were left without heat or power, prompting a state of emergency declaration in the county and a briefly implemented curfew.

Between November and early December, six electric substations in the Pacific Northwest were attacked — some with gunfire, similar to the North Carolina incident — causing service disruptions and in one instance, knocking some of the local county computer systems offline, Oregon Public Broadcasting and KUOW Public Radio reported.

Moss, of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, acknowledged Sunday’s acts of vandalism share similarities with the incidents in other parts of the country, but stopped short of calling the incidents “attacks” until investigators can connect them with a motive, like extremist beliefs.

“People are really frustrated,” Moss said. “It’s one thing to go after the substations and cause damage, but to do it on a holiday where people are trying to enjoy it, and then they’re waking up in the dark? That’s rude, despicable, Grinch-y, whatever you want to call it. It was very upsetting.”

Moss said whatever the suspects’ motivation, tampering with a public utility means “it’s not going to be just a burglary or vandalism charge when we catch them.”