Apparent Coordinated Attacks on North Carolina Substations Cut Power to 40,000 Americans

More than 40,000 homes and businesses lost electrical power Saturday night in a central North Carolina county in what authorities suspect to be a coordinated attack.

The outage occurred the same night as a controversial drag show was scheduled in one of the county’s towns.

According to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office, the outages began a little after 7 p.m. Eastern Time. It wasn’t clear when power would be restored.

Officials said that there was evidence that the outage was caused by vandalism found at multiple substations and Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said that the incident is being investigated as a “criminal occurrence.”

Several substations across Moore County were reportedly shot up. https://t.co/x0DSi6LbTk

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 4, 2022

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“As utility companies began responding to the different substations, evidence was discovered that indicated that intentional vandalism had occurred at multiple sites,” Fields said, according to WRAL-TV in Raleigh.

There is a major power outage in Moore County the power company is aware and is working on the issue. DO NOT call 911 to report an outage. ONLY call 911 to report a EMERGENCY

— Moore Public Safety (@moorecountyps) December 4, 2022

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Duke Energy had almost 38,000 customers without power throughout the county, according to WRAL. Randolph Electric Membership Corp. had 3,000 customers without power in the southern part of the county, WRAL reported.

Jeff Brooks, a spokesman for Duke Energy, told WRAL that crews had discovered “multiple equipment failures” at several substations in the county.

“We are also investigating signs of potential vandalism related to the outages,” Brooks said, according to the station.

Brooks said the company was working to restore power and is cooperating with officials investigating the outage.

According to The Charlotte Observer, some on social media had reported hearing gunshots in the area at the time of the outage. Brooks was asked if there was a connection, but said he couldn’t confirm anything at this stage.

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