DECEMBER 25 (Portal) – Thousands of residents were left without power near Tacoma, Washington, after three substations were destroyed, local authorities said on Sunday, adding it was not yet clear if the incidents happened on Christmas Day be connected to each other.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said robberies were reported at two Tacoma Public Utilities substations and another at Puget Sound Energy. MPs cited a forced entry into the fenced-off area, destroying equipment but not taking anything from the sites, it said. More than 14,000 customers were affected.
“It is at this point that MPs are conducting the initial investigation. We have no suspects in custody. It is not known if there are any motives or if this was a coordinated attack on the power systems,” the department said in a statement on its website.
Earlier this month, a North Carolina electric utility reported outages that local authorities have described as orchestrated shootings, which are now under investigation by federal law enforcement.
The FBI also days later investigated gunfire that was fired near a South Carolina power plant and whether those two incidents could be related, NBC News and other local media have reported.
Utilities across the country have been strained by an extreme cold system that swept across the country this week, leaving more than 300,000 people without power due to the winter storm.
In East Piece County, about 2,700 people served by Tacoma Public Utilities remained affected as of midday Sunday after initially 7,300 residents in the area, about 45 miles (72 km) south of Seattle, lost power, Tacoma Public Utilities said a post on Twitter.
“We are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power,” it said, noting that its substations were “attacked” on Sunday morning and that the incidents were reported to police.
Puget Sound Energy officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Reporting by Susan Heavey; Adaptation by Leslie Adler
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