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The Complex 'Military-Style' Raid on California Power Station Spooks U.S.
Financial Post ^ | December 13, 2013 | Shane Harris

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 ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: 201304; 20130416; 201312; domesticterrorism; dressrehearsal; dryrun; ecoterrorism; grid; homelandsecurity; isolatedincidents; militarystyleraid; nationalsecurity; obamalegacy; pge; plannedattack; powergrid; powerstation; powersubstation; sanjose; siliconvalley; substation; terroristattack; transformers; waronterror
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To: MrEdd; meatloaf

if they can get in that easy, cracking a couple of transmission voltage insulators can could cause widespread damage that would take weeks to fix.

But then again, the ultimate fear if the SOB’s know what their doing, is shorting the transmission voltage to the downside of a substation transformer. I won’t describe the calamity, but let’s just put it this way: it would probably get more news coverage then say... 9/11


61 posted on 12/28/2013 4:55:06 PM PST by jimjohn
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To: jimjohn

There will always be vulnerabilities in our infrastructure and it is doubtful that new federal agencies or hordes of new federal employees will fix it. This is the problem with our political leaders as we saw post 9/11. There only solution is new agencies, more employees, and spending more money.

I have said many times and I am sure most agree that we have been fortunate that AQ and our enemies are hyper-focused on the spectacular when they could bleed us to death financially (and emotionally) with lots of small low-tech attacks.

Government will naturally try to harden every target they hit, but the real danger is that government at most levels is already unaffordable. They could bring us to our knees if they were smart.


62 posted on 12/28/2013 5:30:26 PM PST by volunbeer (We must embrace austerity or austerity will embrace us)
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To: tet68
and where to shoot.

Probably "at the transformer" would cover it.

63 posted on 12/28/2013 5:34:32 PM PST by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves" Month.)
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To: norwaypinesavage

He means a .223 rifle, but doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s .22 caliber too, right? :-)


64 posted on 12/28/2013 5:46:23 PM PST by ltc8k6
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To: meatloaf

There is a lot of serious hardware in that photograph.


65 posted on 12/28/2013 5:50:01 PM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Southack

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-investigate-weekend-shooting-at-tenn-nuclear-plant/

Did you mean this one? Your link is bad.


66 posted on 12/28/2013 5:54:01 PM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: editor-surveyor
We have an abundance of idiots with high powered rifles, always looking for the worst possible targets.

That's all that's left after all the glass insulators on the poles were shot off...

67 posted on 12/28/2013 5:58:58 PM PST by Iscool
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To: Daralundy
Them things cook off real good:


68 posted on 12/28/2013 6:03:41 PM PST by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
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To: Southack

seriously? That concerns me more than the initial story.


69 posted on 12/28/2013 6:14:34 PM PST by FreeAtlanta (Liberty or Big Government - you can't have both.)
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To: Admin Moderator

Hi, can you tell me why all my posts are subject to review?


70 posted on 12/28/2013 6:49:19 PM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: 1010RD

Probably because you aren’t grasping much of what is being posted to you.

IQ is not your strong suit.


71 posted on 12/28/2013 6:51:44 PM PST by Southack (The one thing preppers need from the 1st World? http://tinyurl.com/ktfwljc .)
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To: gaijin

See post #9 and replies...


72 posted on 12/28/2013 6:54:25 PM PST by Southack (The one thing preppers need from the 1st World? http://tinyurl.com/ktfwljc .)
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To: Daralundy
It should be easy to solve and capture the terrorists...

FBI has it's new, standard description handy:

Round them up...Shoot their dogs and wives....Burn their children...

Problem solved.

73 posted on 12/28/2013 7:11:00 PM PST by SuperLuminal (Where is another agitator for republicanism like Sam Adams when we need him?)
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To: tet68

There was an episode of Doomsday Preppers where one of the preppers plans after the apocalypse was to shoot the bottoms of transformers to collect the mineral oil. He did this and then threw a tarp down and collected some of the oil.


74 posted on 12/28/2013 7:26:48 PM PST by Sawdring
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To: Bulwyf
depends how old, not sure what dialetric they use now.

This was near San Jose, so they probably have a California dialectic. Could be a surfer dude dialectic or a valley girl dialectic.

75 posted on 12/28/2013 7:35:10 PM PST by gitmo (If your theology doesn't become your biography, what good is it?)
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To: carriage_hill

Correct, from which the oil can be salvaged for other purposes if needed, like burning in an engine.


76 posted on 12/28/2013 8:51:35 PM PST by SgtHooper (If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.)
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To: Southack

What? Bad link = no think?

Your Indication of Quality or IQ is posting a bad link. My links work. My IQ or Indication of Quality is high.


77 posted on 12/28/2013 10:31:10 PM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: Daralundy; Lazamataz; Travis McGee

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3106733/posts


78 posted on 12/30/2013 6:46:15 PM PST by Southack (The one thing preppers need from the 1st World? http://tinyurl.com/ktfwljc .)
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To: Daralundy

Israeli Independence Day in 2013 was April 16, maybe it was a Hizbollah dry run, or even a demonstration of what they could do designed to “persuade.”


79 posted on 09/24/2015 4:52:33 AM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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