At least five electricity substation attacks in Washington and Oregon in November were reported to the FBI, according to local media. Utility companies Puget Sound Energy, the Cowlitz County Public Utility District, and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) told the Seattle Times they were cooperating with a federal investigation, though the FBI declined to confirm it was investigating the attacks. It’s not clear if any power outages resulted from the assaults. One operation described as a “deliberate physical attack” took place at a Clackamas, Oregon, substation over the Thanksgiving holiday, BPA spokesman Douglas Johnson said. News of the attacks in the Pacific Northwest comes after damage from a substation shooting in North Carolina on Saturday plunged tens of thousands of people into darkness.
