FBI offers $25,000 rewards for information in recent attacks on NC power substations
Federal authorities are offering rewards of up to $25,000 for information that could help investigators identify and arrest the people responsible for two separate attacks on North Carolina electrical substations over the past two months.
The FBI’s Charlotte Field Office announced Friday it will offer up to $25,000 in reward money for information that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or people who attacked two Duke Energy substations in Moore County in December, which left tens of thousands of households and businesses without power for multiple days.
A separate reward of up to $25,000 is available for information that helps the FBI identify, arrest and convict the person or people responsible for attacking an EnergyUnited substation in Randolph County last month.
Information in either case can be reported to either county’s sheriff’s office, or to the FBI, by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI, or visiting tips.fbi.gov.
FBI agents are investigating both incidents along with the Moore County and Randolph County sheriff’s offices, but have yet to identify any suspects in either case.
Investigators don’t believe the Moore and Randolph county attacks are connected, the FBI said in a release.
The rewards being offered by the FBI follow a separate $75,000 reward offered and jointly funded by the state government, Moore County and Duke Energy, for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the Moore County attacks.
Moore County power outages
The Duke Energy substations in Moore County, one in West End and the other in Carthage, were damaged by gunfire on the evening of Dec. 3. Power quickly went out across the county, and it took four days for the utility company to replace damaged equipment and restore power to residents.
Nearly 45,000 customers lost power as a result of the attack.
The outages shut down schools for nearly an entire week, and forced people to adjust to living with minimal power from generators, or no power at all.
Businesses in Pinehurst and Southern Pines, many of them typically relying on the busy holiday shopping season in early December, also struggled, as they lost out on customers while the power was out.
On Jan. 17, authorities reported that the Pleasant Hill substation in Thomasville, operated by EnergyUnited, had been damaged by gunfire that morning.
Legislation considered
In the aftermath of both attacks, state lawmakers introduced legislation this week that would impose harsher criminal penalties for damaging or trying to damage substations and other electrical equipment and energy facilities.
The bill, introduced by GOP Sens. Tom McInnis, Danny Britt and Paul Newton, would make damaging a substation punishable by up to around 10 years in prison, along with a $250,000 fine.
A separate bill introduced in the House by GOP Rep. Ben Moss, which would require public utilities to provide security systems to protect substations from vandalism or other threats, will also include tougher penalties for damaging a substation, Moss said this week.
