BOULDER CITY, Nevada—During World War II, America feared surprise enemy attacks on its electrical power grid plunging the nation into darkness.
The military considered Nevada’s Hoover Dam potentially vulnerable as a supplier of hydroelectric energy for the defense industry.
To prevent direct attacks or sabotage, the dam, built in the 1930s, came with a hardened machine gun nest manned around the clock.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), which has jurisdiction over the dam, described the pillbox as 24 feet long, made of steel and concrete, with six gun ports.
At least one soldier was always inside the nest while riflemen watched the dam from the nearby rocks.
“They didn’t find anybody trying to damage the dam [during the war], but they did apprehend a couple of Nazis who were trying to come up the river in Mexico,” a USBR tour guide told Hoover Dam visitors on Jan. 19.
Before entering Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada, members of the public first have to go through a security checkpoint and declare that no firearms or drones are inside the vehicle.
“They are very serious about security all over this place—between the scans, the cameras—everything. That’s all pretty much since 9/11,” the staff member told The Epoch Times.
“I haven’t heard of anything [threatening since then], which is just how I like it.”
In light of recent power substation attacks in four states, federal and state officials view protecting the nation’s energy grid with greater urgency.
The attacks occurred in North Carolina and South Carolina, with six reported intrusions at Duke Energy substations in Florida in September 2022.
Washington state reported 15 physical attacks on power substations last year.
In some cases, the culprits used firearms.
On Jan. 3, police arrested a man in Boulder City after he doused his car with gasoline, lit it on fire, and then sent it crashing through an MGM solar farm outside of Las Vegas.
The solar array provides electricity for 13 casinos. Mohammed Mesmarian, 34, allegedly told authorities that he did it “for the future.”
Also in January, federal investigators charged Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, with conspiring to attack power substations in Washington state in December 2022.
The duo allegedly had planned to cut the power to a pair of substations and, under the cover of darkness, break into a local business and steal money from the register on Christmas Day 2022.
The damage left thousands across Pierce County without power and racked up an estimated $3 million in repair costs.
“We are aware of these incidents, and we continue to be vigilant in executing our security protocols” at hydroelectric power facilities, USBR public affairs officer Michelle Helms told The Epoch Times.
However, attacks against the nation’s power grid are nothing new, even though the motives are sometimes unclear.
A recent George Washington University study titled “Mayhem, Murder, and Misdirection: Violent Extremist Attack Plots Against Critical Infrastructure in the United States, 2016–2022” largely blamed “white supremacism” for conspiracies during that timeframe.
“The rise of accelerationist ideology and doctrine during the past decade likely fueled the increased risk of attack plots within white supremacist milieus targeting critical infrastructure, and the energy sector in particular,” the report reads.
“Since 2019, white supremacist attack plots against critical infrastructure systems have distinctly increased.”
One notable example of a targeted power infrastructure attack in 2013 was the Metcalf sniper incident at a Pacific Gas and Electric power substation in Coyote, California.
“They did quite a bit of damage to the substation equipment,” said James Kirtley, professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Fortunately, there was enough redundancy in the system that they didn’t lose any customers.
“I don’t understand the motives of some people. People tend to oppose almost all infrastructure projects—as if they didn’t use electricity themselves. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t use electricity. It’s hard to know who might be motivated to attack a substation.”
Utility companies often complain about hunters using power substation parts for target practice, causing significant damage, he said.
“If you know what you’re doing, you can cause terminal damage to a transformer,” Kirtley told The Epoch Times. “Transformers are big and quite costly—millions of dollars. They’re hard to replace because they tend to be custom, specialized designs. It can take a couple of years to make one.”
According to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission report, of the 55,000 power substations in the United States, 30 play a critical role in the nation’s energy grid.
Kirtley said that one way to protect power substations is to install bullet-proof armor. Another is to place visual barriers to deter vandals or terrorists.
However, “it’s not necessarily someone trying to destroy the power system or interrupt service. I think people who do this type of thing aren’t thinking very hard,” he said.
Midwest Energy, a power company in Hays, Kansas, stated that it had taken steps to improve substation security.
“Over several years, we’ve upgraded security measures at many of our substations and are looking at industry best practices to plan further improvements,” Vice President for Engineering and Energy Supply Bill Dowling told The Epoch Times.
“Local law enforcement is more aware of the issue, and we’ve encouraged the public and our contractors that if they see anything suspicious around our facilities, to report it.
“Lastly, federal legislation raising the penalties for substation attacks helps raise the issue’s profile.”
TotalShield, the maker of high-impact force protection products, said there are challenges associated with protecting a power substation, given their remote locations.
Most substations have only a chain-link fence for protection and are vulnerable to gunfire, TotalShield stated on its website.
Moreover, the footprint of some power substations is significant. Installing ballistic-resistant barriers around the entire perimeter would be costly.
Severe Consequences
Measures would include visible warning signs of the consequences of an attack on a substation, security cameras, alarms, electronic monitors, perimeter fencing, and climbing deterrents.By any measure, an attack against the power grid could have severe consequences in areas that rely on a steady supply of energy, such as hospitals and clinics.
YouTube podcaster Matt “Magic Prepper” in North Dakota said the key for everyday people is to prepare for such events.
“I think the way I would approach this might seem counterintuitive. The most obvious thing to do would be to tell people to have a generator of some kind—gas, solar—and a way to keep it fueled,” Matt said.
“However, I would suggest they take an inventory of what they would be without and prepare accordingly.
“Most people living in urban and suburban areas rely on city water systems for their hydration needs. If the grid goes down, the pumps go down with it, and the water no longer runs.”
Critical Infrastructure
“Even though you might personally have access to power, that will not allow the water pumps at the treatment center to start functioning, thus providing running water once again,” Matt told The Epoch Times.“If you rely on an electric heat source and the power shuts off, how will you stay warm? Wood stoves and propane heating units work well and are far less expensive than acquiring a generator with enough power to run an electric furnace for long periods.”
The Hoover Dam is a critical infrastructure that supplies energy for Nevada, Southern California, and Arizona, the loss of which could be far-reaching and serious.
Standing 726 feet high, the dam operates with 17 enormous hydroelectric turbines capable of producing 2,080 megawatts of power to serve 1.3 million people.
“We live close to a substation in Ohio. That is concerning,” Chad Sealock of Ohio told The Epoch Times regarding the substation attacks during a recent tour of Hoover Dam with Kristi Doubledee.
“The whole world relies on electricity. In many ways, it feels like Hollywood in the news.
“The world is so small, and many people would never get these ideas if they hadn’t seen it, or heard it, or watched it in a movie.”
