Many people take the security of our national grid for granted. They should not.
Since the days of the Soviet threat during the Cold War, the US grid was in the scope of foreign militaries. In addition to China and Russia, Iran and North Korea drew contingency plans to destroy our sources of electricity. Yet, it is not only foreign governments that target our electric lifelines.
Recently an avowed Neo-nazi and Atomwaffen founder Brandon Russel was charged after an attack on electrical substations near Baltimore in an attempt to destroy the city’s power grid and further their racist mission. Their hope? A blackout would start a “race war”. Repugnant, deluded, or otherwise, he is not the first one to identify civilian energy infrastructure as an easy target to attack for advancing political or financial aims. Energy infrastructure is ubiquitous and vulnerable, and its disruption offers immediate and tangible results to the perpetrators. This vulnerability means we should expect more similar attacks.
Brandon Russel’s case is not isolated. Other prominent incidents include the gunfire attack in North Carolina on electrical substations which left thousands of households and businesses without power for several days last December. Investigators found gates were broken and evidence of gunfire damage to equipment at two substations in the county.
