Posted on 12/28/2013 2:15:07 PM PST by Daralundy
When U.S. officials warn about "attacks" on electric power facilities these days, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a computer hacker trying to shut the lights off in a city with malware. But a more traditional attack on a power station in California has U.S. officials puzzled and worried about the physical security of the the electrical grid--from attackers who come in with guns blazing.
Around 1:00 AM on April 16, at least one individual (possibly two) entered two different manholes at the PG&E Metcalf power substation, southeast of San Jose, and cut fiber cables in the area around the substation. That knocked out some local 911 services, landline service to the substation, and cell phone service in the area, a senior U.S. intelligence official told Foreign Policy. The intruder(s) then fired more than 100 rounds from what two officials described as a high-powered rifle at several transformers in the facility. Ten transformers were damaged in one area of the facility, and three transformer banks -- or groups of transformers -- were hit in another, according to a PG&E spokesman.
Cooling oil then leaked from a transformer bank, causing the transformers to overheat and shut down. State regulators urged customers in the area to conserve energy over the following days, but there was no long-term damage reported at the facility and there were no major power outages. There were no injuries reported. That was the good news. The bad news is that officials don't know who the shooter(s) were, and most importantly, whether further attacks are planned.
(Excerpt) Read more at complex.foreignpolicy.com ...
All transformers in Saudi are filled with silicone oil. Muy expensivo. Little known fact.
link? source?
“Didn’t this happen last December rather than recently? I recall the story being reported late last year.”
From the article. Paragraph 2, sentence 1.
“Around 1:00 AM on April 16”
bookmark
The substation is the switching and routing element, and taking that out is just as effective as taking out the generation, and likely considerably easier.
This one was probably an inside job by a disgruntled ex-employee, but a military style raid, no.
Replacements for these large transformers are not exactly sitting on shelves somewhere.
Years ago - from 1929 to 1977 - they did; now they’re using mineral oil derivatives:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformer_oil#Current_mineral_oil_alternatives
Nothin` new Obummer`s friends:
Ayer`s Weathermen blew up an Oakland PG&E transformer station 1969(?) only 50 yards from my workplace- shrapnel sprayed thru the thin-walled Quonset hangar near the Old Oakland Airport hut like bullets. But we were protected by rows and rows of steel-backed shelving.
Also Dhorne’s unexploded bomb at the San Geronimo PG&E substation. ...
You`da thunk the feds woulda learned something after 45 years —
well....duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
All of the PCB has been removed from everything possible, and re-refined to use in making refrigerants.
Gordon Liddy wrote about this nearly 25 years ago. It was in Omni Magazine I believe.
Sorry, missed that. So this is a.rather old story, not exactly breaking news.
It’s the cooling oil that has to be replaced, not the transformers.
Sounds like fans of a computer game probably late teen or early 20’s playing army. Like we used to do in the early 60’s yelling pow,pow instead of firing real bullets.
If there is no cooling oil, the transformers may have a meltdown or damage.
They can be taken offline and power re routed, but if this type of incident happens in many such locations simultaneously, the power outage could be long lasting.
Maybe cases could be patched, but I’m thinking more likely new ones are called for — also, we don’t know if the bullets reached the inner transformers themselves. It would be foolish to assume not without careful inspection.
It probably will pay to have a live guard at the station in the future.
Transformers shutdown if they exceed safe temps.
I hope it was only mischief, not serious terrorism.
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