BPA Seeking Leads On "Intentional" Oregon Substation Attacks

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The Bonneville Power Administration is seeking information and tips from the public to help find the person(s) responsible for two recent attacks on Portland-area power substations.

Incidents follow recent attacks in North Carolina that knocked out power

Recently, officials in North Carolina announced they're searching for the suspects who used firearms to damage some power substations, knocking our electricity for 45K customers in Moore County. Law enforcement officers in that area have recovered about two dozen high-powered rifle shell casings near the power substations, which were disabled by the bullets.

Following these incidents, the BPA issued internal memos about increased security and monitoring of substations against such events.

Now, the BPA has released information that they are seeking tips from the public following the confirmed attack on two substations in Clackamas County, according to KATU TV and information from the BPA.

The BPA and Portland General Electric say the two incidents occurred on Thanksgiving Day but did not offer specific details as to what was damaged. They did say fortunately that power was not disrupted.

In a release from the BPA Media Team, it read in part:

"The physical attack occurred in the early morning hours Thursday, Nov. 24. BPA was able to respond quickly and minimize the damage. BPA is actively cooperating with the FBI on this incident and has encouraged other utilities throughout the region to increase their vigilance and report any suspicious or similar activity to law enforcement. "

KATU is reporting Portland General Electric says the deliberate incident on their substation briefly interrupted power, but workers were able to quickly restore it with very minimal disruption. BPA said in their information release the fences at both substations were intentionally cut to obtain access to the equipment.

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The BPA did say the damage was intentional and not an accident, according to KATU-TV and BPA Spokesperson Doug Johnson:

“We have confirmed that this was malicious intent, it was no accident.”

Anyone with any information is urged to report it by calling the BPA’s 24-hour toll-free, confidential Crime Witness hotline at 800-437-2744.

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