Economy

Attacks on 4 Washington Substations Cut Power to Thousands, Officials Say

Vandals broke into and damaged four power stations in Pierce County, Wash., on Sunday, leaving thousands in the dark, the authorities said.



A Tacoma Power crew worked at an electrical substation damaged by vandals early on Christmas morning in Graham, Wash.Credit...Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times, via Associated Press

By Livia Albeck-Ripka
Dec. 27, 2022, 5:29 a.m. ET

Local authorities in Washington State are investigating a series of Christmas Day attacks on four power substations that knocked out power to thousands of customers in the region and have raised concerns once again about the security of the nation’s power grid.

The attacks come just weeks after two substations in North Carolina were damaged by assailants who disabled equipment with gunfire, leaving about 45,000 customers in rural Moore County without power for days. Those attacks highlighted growing concerns that the power grid could be a target for extremist groups and prompted federal regulators to order a review of security standards for the nation’s power grid.

The authorities in Pierce County, Wash., said that they had no suspects and were still in the early stages of their investigation. ... “At this time, deputies are conducting the initial investigation” the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “We do not have any suspects in custody. It is unknown if there are any motives or if this was a coordinated attack on the power systems.”

According to the sheriff’s department, the first attack occurred sometime before 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, when officers received a call that a Tacoma Public Utilities substation about 20 miles south of downtown Tacoma, had been broken into. ... “Nothing had been taken from the substation, but the suspect vandalized the equipment causing a power outage,” the sheriff’s department said. The authorities said that they were soon notified of a second break-in at another substation, just over 2.5 miles east.

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Livia Albeck-Ripka is a reporter for The Times based in California. She was previously a reporter in the Australia bureau. @livia_ar