COLUMBUS, Ohio — Law enforcement in North Carolina say two power substations were damaged by gunfire on Sunday night in what they believe was an “intentional” attack on the power grid.
American Electric Power, the nation's largest electricity transmission system and has more than 224,000 miles of distribution lines, says cyber or physical threats is something it focuses on every day.
The electric company says it has developed measures to protect facilities and electronic systems, adding that threats are not new and they are "working diligently to ensure the reliability of the electric grid."
10TV searched the Department of Energy log on physical attacks and found one happened in Muskingum County in April and another happened a month later in Cuyahoga County. Neither attack led to an outage and no damage was reported.
The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel says no matter if it’s an extreme weather or a terrorist attack it’s important you have a plan should you experience extended time with no power.
“In any type of emergency situation like this you should have a plan ready to be ready for extended outage,” said Mike Haugh of the counsel.
There have been nine physical attacks on the US electrical grid so far this year, along with 60 acts of vandalism, according to the Department of Energy data.