![]() ![]() In neighboring Oregon, the state’s Public Utility Commission is working with regulated utilities to increase vigilance and explore possible security updates, after gunfire attacks damaged two substations southeast of Portland in late November. “‘Security by design’ is a core component of these systems,” he said. Physical and cybersecurity updates are in the works as the electrical grid undergoes significant changes to meet new standards, Furze said. Washington is already revamping its electrical infrastructure under the Clean Energy Transformation Act, which commits the state to an electricity supply free of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. Michael Furze, director of the Washington State Energy Office, said that although no legislation specifically addressing substation security has been introduced, broader bipartisan discussions are underway about grid resilience. The Pacific Northwest has become a hotspot for these physical attacks, with Washington and Oregon utilities reporting at least 15 incidents in 2022, including 10 in the last two months of the year.Īttackers hit four Washington substations on Christmas Day, forcing entry, setting fire to equipment and temporarily cutting power to thousands of customers. A subcommittee plans to review the bill further in a few weeks. Kissam agreed but said sometimes that damage isn’t an accident, as hunters use equipment to set their gun sights or as target practice. Some state senators worried that the law could be used against hunters who accidentally damage utility equipment. “You want to demoralize people, you put them in the dark,” he said. ![]() ![]() Utilities in South Carolina - where gunshots were fired near a Duke Energy facility but caused no damage days after the North Carolina shootings - are asking lawmakers to increase penalties for intentionally destroying electrical infrastructure or other utility property.Ī state Senate proposal would set a sliding scale based on how much damage is done - if it costs more than $25,000 to fix equipment and cover losses, the perpetrator could face up to 20 years in prison, double the current 10-year maximum.Ī maximum 25-year penalty would apply if anyone died or their health was endangered by a resulting outage.ĭominion Energy South Carolina President Keller Kissam said the state saw at least 12 incidents of people intentionally damaging equipment last year. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which oversees the nation’s bulk power system, has until early April to submit a report and recommend possible improvements. ![]() The FBI is still seeking information and no arrests have been made.įederal regulators in December ordered a review of physical security standards across the nation’s vast electricity transmission network following the attacks in North Carolina. His call for increased surveillance comes as questions linger about the Moore County shootings. He considers the bill “a conversation opener” between lawmakers, utilities and security experts to help the General Assembly identify cost-effective defenses that wouldn’t drive up consumer prices. Security provisions would vary across sites, some of which are already gated with nearby cameras while others are more exposed. Moss is drafting legislation, obtained in its preliminary form by The Associated Press, that would require utilities to provide 24-hour security at substations, which transform high-voltage electricity into the lower voltages that power communities. The recent attacks in Moore County, North Carolina, and others in Washington, Oregon, South Carolina and Nevada, have underscored the vulnerability of the nation’s far-flung electrical grid, which security experts have long warned could be a target for domestic extremists. substations, primarily in the Carolinas and Pacific Northwest. He’s among the first state legislators to propose power grid protections this year amid a surge in attacks on U.S. Ben Moss watched his vibrant district full of family farms, small businesses and sprawling golf courses become “a ghost town.”Īfter the latest attack last week on a substation in Randolph County, northeast of Charlotte, Moss is urging fellow lawmakers to prioritize new legislation that would secure the state’s critical infrastructure when the legislative session begins in earnest this week. (AP) - When gunshots at two electrical substations cut power to thousands of central North Carolina homes for several days in early December, Republican state Rep. ![]()
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