Metcalf sniper attack

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Metcalf sniper attack
CCTV footage (Attacks happen at around 2:07)
Location Coyote, California, U.S.
DateApril 16, 2013 (2013-04-16)
12:58 – 1:50 a.m. (PDT)
Target PG&E Metcalf substation
Attack type
 Sabotage
Weapons 7.62×39mm rifles

On April 16, 2013, an attack was carried out on Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Metcalf transmission substation in Coyote, California, near the border of San Jose. The attack, in which gunmen fired on 17 electrical transformers, resulted in more than $15 million worth of equipment damage, but it had little impact on the station's electrical power supply. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Assault

On the morning of April 16, 2013, a team of gunmen, using rifles, opened fire on the Metcalf Transmission Substation, severely damaging 17 transformers. [4] [5] [6]

Preparation

Prior to the attack, a series of fiber-optic telecommunications cables operated by AT&T were cut by the culprits. Additionally, following the attack, investigators found small piles of rocks near to where the shots had been fired, the type of formations that can be used to scout firing positions. [7] [8]

Timeline

Sophistication of attack

Former Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Jon Wellinghoff stated that military experts informed him that the assault looked like a "professional job", noting that no fingerprints were discovered on the empty casings. [7] While Wellinghoff described the attack as "the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred", a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated that they did not believe a terrorist organization was responsible. [9]

Henry Waxman, a ranking member of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce, stated that the attack was "an unprecedented and sophisticated attack on an electric grid substation with military-style weapons. Communications were disrupted. The attack inflicted substantial damage. It took weeks to replace the damaged parts. Under slightly different conditions, there could have been serious power outages or worse." [8]

Aftermath

Seventeen transformers were seriously damaged, requiring over $15 million worth of repairs. To avert a black-out, energy grid officials had to reroute power from nearby Silicon Valley–based power plants. [2] [10] While some nearby neighborhoods temporarily lost power, “the big users weren’t even aware Metcalf had happened”, according to an expert from the Electric Power Research Institute. [1]

Both PG&E, the company which operated the transformers, and AT&T offered $250,000 rewards for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators of the attack. [6] [11]

In June 2014, PG&E announced that it intended to spend $100 million over a three-year span on upgrading security at substations throughout its territory, including the Metcalf location. [12]

A July 2014 report from the Congressional Research Service titled Physical Security of the U.S. Power Grid: High-Voltage Transformer Substations repeatedly cited the attack and noted that, "... in the wake of the Metcalf incident, the FERC has ordered the imposition of mandatory physical security standards (for substations) in 2014." [13] [14]

Investigation

In October 2015, it was reported that the Department of Homeland Security had found indications that the attack may have been committed by "an insider". [15]

Precursor publications

In 2012, the National Research Council of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a declassified report prepared in 2007 for the United States Department of Homeland Security that highlighted the vulnerability of the national electric grid from damage to high voltage transformers. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 Koerth-Baker, Maggie (August 13, 2018). "Hacking The Electric Grid Is Damned Hard". FiveThirtyEight. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Sniper Attack On Calif. Power Station Raises Terrorism Fears". NPR. February 5, 2014. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  3. ↑ Serrano, Richard; Halper, Evan (February 11, 2014). "Sophisticated but low-tech power grid attack baffles authorities". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 7, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Snipers Coordinated an Attack on the Power Grid, but Why?". The Atlantic. February 5, 2014. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  5. ↑ "U.S. Power Grid Vulnerable to Attack: Congressional Research Service". Bloomberg. July 8, 2014. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "PG&E Offers $250,000 Reward In San Jose Substation Attack". CBS San Francisco. April 10, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 "Assault on California Power Station Raises Alarm on Potential for Terrorism". The Wall Street Journal. February 5, 2014. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "'Military-Style' Raid on California Power Station Spooks U.S." Foreign Policy. December 27, 2013. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Sniper Attack On Calif. Power Station Raises Terrorism Fears". NPR. June 4, 2021. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Following Attack on PG&E Substation, Bill Requires California Utilities to Beef Up Security". NBC Bay Area. March 10, 2014. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  11. ↑ "$250,000 Reward Offered In Vandalism Of San Jose AT&T Wires". CBS SF Bay Area. April 17, 2013. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  12. ↑ "PG&E upgrading substation security after San Jose sniper attack". San Jose Mercury News. June 18, 2014. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Physical Security of the U.S. Power Grid: High-Voltage Transformer Substations" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. June 17, 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Keeping the electric grid safe from attack". The Hill. October 8, 2014. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Sniper attack on California power grid may have been 'an insider,' DHS says". CNN Money. October 17, 2015. Archived from the original on August 29, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System". National Research Council. November 14, 2014. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2016.

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