North Carolina power substations taken out by gunfire 16

[FacEngrPE]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/north-carolina-sheriff-says-intentional-vandalism-substations-caused-power-outages-40k-customers[/URL]]A North Carolina sheriff and power company official said "intentional vandalism" at substations has caused outages for about 40,000 customers expected to last longer than 24 hours

NC county announces curfew as nearly 40,000 customers remain without power after 2 substations damaged by gunfire; Tina Burnside, By Nicole Grether, Gloria Pazmino and Tina Burnside, CNN Updated 6:12 PM EST, Sun December 4, 2022

Current outages link

https://www.readync.gov/stay-informed/power-outages

and

https://outagemaps.duke-energy.com/#/current-outages/ncsc

Moore County Sheriff's Office Dec 4

 

[RedSnake]

I think it would have a problem how much depends on the disc.
I tried to drill in a spring mattress (wood, stuffing, outer fabric) I was making into a day bed, putting some new legs on it.
Totally impossible, almost...
It had some "nylon" stuffing and when the drill got hot it melted and glued the drill.
But a disc to a angle grinder has less friction on the disc depending on type.
But still cutting something that is soft with something that is supposed to cut hard material isn't easy.

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein

 

[TugboatEng]

Ropes aren't soft when they have tension on them which would be the case for installed infrastructure. We cut them when they're loose for splicing. We wrap the area to be cut with masking tape.

 

[dik]

Maybe there are those out there that don't already know...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

most don't know, media attention and descriptions what has been done to generate revenue is what spreads the info.

here is relatively safe in the grand scale of things. A diamond blade 18v grinder will pretty much defeat most security. As will a metal jacket amour piercing targeted HV round into a transformer.

FOX news and the likes have told the great unhappy unwashed how to do it.... Which is a problem.

I did have a good finger wagging at by an extremely senior officer for developing scenarios due sabotage events due to engineering knowledge. The C word was used. In actual fact some of the "plays" are happening in Russia just now. My boss as enemy was very happily pissed in the corner saying crack on son this is absolutely hilarious. Brigadier with mucho shampers absolutely rat arsed, she had started to drink when I put a hit in on Belfast sewage works with 500ltrs of diesel and the Sapper boss gave 12 hours to water supply shut down.

He did buy mucho beer in the mess afterwards but said that was the hardest paper tiger exercise I have ever done. There were no assets to take out with a concentrated force just tap tap of infrastructure. Who taught you this crap?.

Nobody just invented crap from knowledge of engineering systems. I am not even qualified yet as a Mech eng.

 

[TugboatEng]

We need to sell more AR-15 rifles. They don't have the penetration of most hunting rifles, much safer around infrastructure.

Dik, it doesn't do much good to hide this stuff, then only the bad guys will know. Take your car for example, it probably has an if ignition interlock to prevent theft. It is not possible for you to program or bypass which makes your key replacement expensive. However, criminals have some secret knowledge that does allow them to program or bypass your ignition interlock. That information circulates whether you know it or not.

 

[JohnRBaker]

The current generation of battery powered angle grinders render any attempts at cut resistance to be futile.

Yes, a week or so ago, one of the restaurants in Houston, that our son is responsible for, was broken into. Apparently during that night several businesses in the mall where the store was located were vandalized and in each case, someone had used an angle grinder to literally remove the side of their safes. However, they had only started on the safe in the restaurant's office when apparently they were spooked and left after only managing a single three inch or so cut in the side of the safe, but you could see that with a bit more effort they would have taken the side of that safe out as well.

Here's a shot of the safe:

And a close-up of the cut:

He said if they had managed to get in the safe, he's not sure that they would have considered it worth the effort since he said they only had maybe $200 or $300 cash in it.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

more than enough to take out most infrastructure.

You going to have to upgrade absolutely everything to 12mm steel plate to protect against AR-15 rounds that are available from Walmart.

Your basically screwed now the anti feds know how to do it.

Good luck your just going to have to live with it. Thankfully the bog trotters in Northern Ireland never got clued up in that crap, They just went for 50 cal single targets over the border and blowing up horses. And then September 11th happened and the boats got taken with the resupply and the bang dried up along with the money. Don't believe the nonsense in the media about good Friday agreement and all that pish. It was September 11th that stopped most of the PIRA issues not the political stuff.

 

[TugboatEng]

They key is deterrence. You need to make an example of a few perpetrators and build a perception of risk around such action. You're seeing the Federal government do this with the Jan 6 rioters right now.

Have the offered a reward for information on the first substation incident?

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

makes no difference at all tugboat bog trotters with Irish issues used to have no jury courts. Locals turning up at 2 am blowing their kneecaps out. British army doing over time and putting a 9mm through their heads made not the slightest bit of difference.

your country's red neck's seem to have substantially less IQ than the paddy's. Lets face it alot of them are descendants of the hookers and criminals of the UK when it was a penal colony.

 

[zeusfaber]

Am I right in thinking that electricity infrastructure was high on the target list for the ANC's military wing in the early 1960s?

A.

 

[dik]

The real key is creating an environment that precludes that type of activity. Happy, well fed, educated people are less inclined to 'blow things up'.

Even with it being a capital offense, people are still killing people; I don't think deterrence is very effective.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[TugboatEng]

The only people that are happy are the ones that have the power. We're currently in a left wing swing so the right is mad. Give it a few years and we'll be back to your left wing blowing things up.

 

[spsalso]

"The only people that are happy are the ones that have power."

That IS appealing. But can you prove it? Because if you can't, you will have to retract it.

You are asserting that the way to happiness is by having power (over others). I think. With my kids grown and out of the house, and with a wife of a certain unwillingness to be "powered", and with cats who are also just not impressed (except for the food part), and with customers who are similarly unimpressed unless I actually do the work the need/want........

I must admit I have next to no power over anyone. And yet I'm pretty happy.

What the HELL is wrong, here!


spsalso

 

[TugboatEng]

Maybe I should retract and say that there will always be a "perceived oppressor" and there will always be someone that feels oppressed. The perception is key as the feeling does not always reflect reality.

 

[RedSnake]

The real key is creating an environment that precludes that type of activity. Happy, well fed, educated people are less inclined to 'blow things up'.

I think you are right.
We are considered one of the happiest people in the world and I can't remember more then two incidents of this kind, there can surely have been more of them but maybe they where so small so they didn't make the big news.
The preferred method here is dynamite, someone blow up a the pole base on a main power line.
And then there where this guy who blow up a telecom mast, but he had some mental issues and the wife of a coworker of mine tipped the police of so they managed to catch him and also found evidence.

Mostly we are worried about the Russians, right now they have ordered more surveillance of infrastructure and asked people to be more attentive of strange people that don't seem to belong.

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

Yes zeusfaber it was.

 

[FacEngrPE]

This posting is mostly about some prior substation vandalism by some people with what I consider to be a warped view of right and wrong (the problem is not just their politics).

At the end of the posting is some news about the ongoing current event investigation.

Moore County Power Grid Attack - North Carolina men among several charged in various neo-Nazi plots against power substations in 2020, 2021; by: Emily Mikkelsen, Fox 8 Posted: Dec 30, 2022 / 10:16 AM EST; Updated: Jan 4, 2023 / 05:45 AM EST

A copy of the wanted poster can be examined in this post.
Moore County Power Grid Attack - Duke Energy says ‘no decisions’ yet on how company will handle costs from Moore County substation attack; by: Emily Mikkelsen, Justyn Melrose; Posted: Dec 16, 2022 / 02:26 PM EST; Updated: Dec 16, 2022 / 02:33 PM EST

A partial listing of recent incidents.
Electrical grid security in the United States; From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[JohnRBaker]

The beat goes on...

Another North Carolina power substation damaged by apparent gunfire weeks after grid attacks left thousands without power

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-...ed-apparent-gunfire-weeks-after-grid-attacks/

An excerpt from the above item:

Another power substation in North Carolina has been damaged because of apparent gunfire, energy officials said Tuesday. The damage occurred at a power substation in Thomasville, about an hour away from Moore County, where just weeks ago two other substations were attacked by gunfire. 

EnergyUnited said that company officials learned of an "equipment issue" at the Pleasant Hill Substation on Tuesday morning, at which time crews were sent to assess the situation. There, they found that a transformer had been damaged "from an apparent gunshot" and law enforcement was notified. 

No customers who get their power from the substation experienced an outage, the company said. 

The Randolph County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday that police responded to a "vandalism call" at the substation, and that investigators responded to the scene. The FBI and the State Bureau of Investigations were also notified, police said. 

"Investigators recovered evidence from the scene and canvassed the surrounding areas gathering additional information," the sheriff's office said. "Based on information gathered, investigators believe the incident occurred around 3:00 a.m. The investigation is ongoing."

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[1503-44]

Practical Engineering's YouTube channel explains

https://youtu.be/bPwY-FTqWxM

Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[cranky108]

Sounds like board children with guns. Where are the adults?