Posted on 02/06/2014 5:40:21 AM PST by ClaytonP
The Wall Street Journal's Rebecca Smith reports that a former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman is acknowledging for the first time that a group of snipers shot up a Silicon Valley substation for 19 minutes last year, knocking out 17 transformers before slipping away into the night.
The attack was "the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred" in the U.S., Jon Wellinghoff, who was chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the time, told Smith.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
There is little doubt that this was either a well-organized prank (not likely) or a well-organized trial run.
Who did this is not as important as the risk analysis to this and other stations.
It could have been some drunk teenagers with hunting rifles.
My issue wasn't with the plural form, but with the noun itself.
I agree that there is more attacks likely to occur.
The article states that there were small piles of rocks to demonsrate ideal locations where to shoot from
suggests that there was an expierienced shooter marking ideal locations for maximum effectiveness at knocking out the station.
This was not a 'hastey' act of domestic terrorism, actually it demonsrates a plan and calculation.
Additionally , since transformers are no longer made in the USA , the plant was knocked offline for a month until replacments could be ordered and delivered.
What if next time two or three substations were knocked out simultaneously ?
I beleive that it was a practice to determine vulnerability of the electrical system , and to evaluate the power company response .
Its not difficult at all. Another incident happened in AR recently and knocked out power to about 10,000 people. The perps scratched a message into a metal door or something to the effect of didn’t you know we were coming?
Mr. GG2 thinks this is muslim terrorists. I don’t I think its domestic.
Yup.
Expect lots more video cameras in the neighborhood of utility substations, high-capacity power lines, etc.
An old story getting new attention... why now?
Is Øbama going to claim he saved us from an attack?
Isnt there a county gun range near there? and dont the LEOs train around there also?
Back in the mid-70s when I was in college, there was a strike by union workers for the power company. I got a job with Wells Fargo Security as an unarmed guard at a sub-station. All of the sub-stations had guards because a few of the transformers had been damaged by gunfire. We were just there to call the cops if something happens. 24-hour guards for all those stations was a huge expense to the power company but it was a great job for doing homework! Even with guards, the damage could have easily been done with a slim chance of being caught.
This is what happens when you live in an extreme liberal area like California. Eventually, anything that is remotely a symbol of Capitalism gets attacked — literally. It doesn’t matter how much money Silicon Valley gives to Gore and Obama, they are the enemy.
Without spelling it out, just do what they did in this story.
Equipment can be replaced but it would take several days and
supply is limited.
I would lean towards a single shooter myself. If you're going to do something criminal and stupid the chances of getting caught go up exponentially with the number of people in on it. The fact that they haven't gotten a line on this means it is either a small group of extremely well disciplined people or more likely just one whack-job that knows how to keep his mouth shut.
No, there's going to be a massive power outage at some point, with "domestic terrorism" to be the claimed cause, thereby providing a figleaf for the imposition of martial law in several areas.
This was, in my belief, the setting up of the chessboard. Yeah, the individual shooters may have been domestics, kids even...and if they were Moose Limbs what would it matter...so long as no one was caught. That was Move #1. Move #2 we just saw...after "careful analysis" this was determined to be "domestic terrorism." Move #3 will be a far larger, and far more obviously coordinated, attack on many such stations across the country. Those attacks will be used as the excuse for a "limited declaration of emergency" (i.e. martial law)...and if no one reacts too badly to that, it'll go nationwide as further orchestrated attacks take place. If, OTOH, there is widespread opposition (especially violent reaction to the suspension of Constitutional rights), then it'll go nationwide with a full-court press on the "extreme right-wing terrorists in our midst."
The best way to think of this is that it'll be our Reichstag Fire moment. A bit more sophisticated and time-consuming, but then again, the US now isn't 1930s Germany (which was far more accepting of an authoritarian ruler, having essentially never experienced real democracy).
Face it, folks, there's a fight coming. The so-called Progressives are really Communists, and this is the thing for which they've been planning for nearly a century (both here and in the USSR). Let's be awake and aware, and when the time comes let's win the fight that they have brought to us.
“No, there’s going to be a massive power outage at some point, with “domestic terrorism” to be the claimed cause, thereby providing a figleaf for the imposition of martial law in several areas. “
Yes, one of my pet theories. That and the Iranians or some other state sponsored hacking will put the grid down. Its going down its just a matter of time. If you don’t have a back up system you are going to be one miserable pup.
Good analysis my friend,,,
Time will tell.
I’m surprised a standard, jacketed 7.62X39 round penetrates a station transformer side. I worked a spill at one a few years back where it had been overfilled with cooling oil (to the very top, and the units have fill lines for expansion of the oil based on typical operating temperatures). The bolts, a LOT of them, on the access cover plate sheared while the body of the unit didn’t appear any worse for wear and the plate was ~1/4”+ thick.
17 minutes of rifle fire is the worst terrorism ever on the grid?
A group of middle school kids could do that.
When the professionals get involved it’s going to much worse.
Ping to #32
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