North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced a $75,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprits responsible for the destruction of Moore County electrical substations.
The state will provide up to $25,000, while Duke Energy and Moore County will each provide up to $25,000.
“An attack on our critical infrastructure will not be tolerated,” Cooper said in a statement. ”I appreciate the coordinated efforts of law enforcement to leave no stone unturned in finding the criminals who did this and I thank Moore County and Duke Energy for matching the state’s reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.”
State and federal authorities, along with the Moore County Sheriff’s Office, are investigating after a person or group of people opened fire on Duke Energy electrical substations in Moore County around 7 p.m. on Dec. 3.
The attack crippled the utility infrastructure and knocked out power to over 45,000 homes and businesses. The motive for the attack is unknown.
Repairs
According to a press release issued by Duke Energy earlier on Wednesday, all damaged equipment has been fixed. However, it may be many days before electricity is fully restored.“Equipment damaged from recent vandalism has either been repaired or replaced,” Duke said in a notice. “The restoration of service to those Moore County communities still without power is underway. To avoid overwhelming the electrical system we will bring power back on gradually, with the goal of having the majority of customers restored before midnight tonight.”
The firm had previously stated that it had restored power to around 10,000 customers in Moore County. However, 35,000 people remained without electricity at the time.
Because of the power loss, officials declared a state of emergency and advised locals to avoid the roadways. A curfew was also imposed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. ET every night until Dec. 9.
Attack
Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields described the event as unprecedented, claiming that considerable damage caused by bullets was discovered at two substations.Last weekend, Fields informed news outlets that bullets were fired at electricity substations in what he described as intentional vandalism. He claimed that those who fired bullets at the substations “knew exactly what they were doing” but did not elaborate.
According to Jeff Brooks, a Duke Energy official, a substantial quantity of equipment had to be replaced as a result of the damage. He said the scenario wasn’t the same as a power loss caused by a storm.
Brooks explained that when storms trigger outages, the power can be rerouted and therefore restored sooner for customers. But in this case, entire pieces of equipment have to be replaced. He warned that residents might be in for a multi-day wait before power is restored.
