Another North Carolina power substation damaged by apparent gunfire weeks after grid attacks left thousands without power
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."
Steve McCachern, EnergyUnited's vice president of energy delivery, said in a statement that company "strives to deliver safe, reliable energy to its members."
"While we are glad that our members did not experience any service interruptions, we take this matter very seriously and are currently investigating the incident," McCachern said.
The damage to the substation comes weeks after two other power substations in the state were hit by gunfire, leaving at least 40,000 people without electricity. Those stations, owned by Duke Energy, were located in nearby Moore County and are believed to have been hit as part of a "targeted" attack, according to the county's sheriff.
"It wasn't random," Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said of the Dec. 3 incidents. In an update posted to Facebook on Dec. 28, the sheriff said the office has received "numerous tips" and that there is a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.