Assault on California Power Station Raises Alarm on Potential for Terrorism

[mahatmakanejeeves]

This is serious stuff.

Assault on California Power Station Raises Alarm on Potential for Terrorism

April Sniper Attack Knocked Out Substation, Raises Concern for Country's Power Grid

By Rebecca Smith
https://twitter.com/SmithRebecca
[e-mail]
Feb. 4, 2014 10:30 p.m. ET

SAN JOSE, Calif.—The attack began just before 1 a.m. on April 16 last year, when someone slipped into an underground vault not far from a busy freeway and cut telephone cables. ... Within half an hour, snipers opened fire on a nearby electrical substation. Shooting for 19 minutes, they surgically knocked out 17 giant transformers that funnel power to Silicon Valley. A minute before a police car arrived, the shooters disappeared into the night.

To avoid a blackout, electric-grid officials rerouted power around the site and asked power plants in Silicon Valley to produce more electricity. But it took utility workers 27 days to make repairs and bring the substation back to life.

Nobody has been arrested or charged in the attack at PG&E Corp.'s Metcalf transmission substation. It is an incident of which few Americans are aware. But one former federal regulator is calling it a terrorist act that, if it were widely replicated across the country, could take down the U.S. electric grid and black out much of the country. ... The attack was "the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred" in the U.S., said Jon Wellinghoff, who was chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the time.

The Wall Street Journal assembled a chronology of the Metcalf attack from filings PG&E made to state and federal regulators; from other documents including a video released by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department; and from interviews, including with Mr. Wellinghoff.

{snip}





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U.S. Moves to Protect Electric Grid

Congressional Leaders Seek Federal Standards After Report on Attack

By Rebecca Smith
https://twitter.com/SmithRebecca
[e-mail]
Feb. 6, 2014 7:55 p.m. ET

Congressional leaders in both parties are pushing to impose federal standards for protecting the electric grid from physical attacks in the wake of a Wall Street Journal report detailing a sophisticated attack on a California transmission substation last year.

{snip}

Peggy Noonan is right.

America's Power Is Under Threat

Declarations

The Metcalf incident is a reminder of our greatest vulnerability.

By Peggy Noonan
https://twitter.com/Peggynoonannyc
[e-mail]
Updated Feb. 7, 2014 10:20 a.m. ET

Welcome to my obsession. It is electricity. It makes everything run—the phone, the web, the TV, the radio, all the ways we talk to each other and receive information. The tools and lights in the operating room—electricity. All our computers in a nation run by them, all our defense structures, installations and communications. The pumps at the gas station, the factories in the food-supply chain, the ATM, the device on which you stream your music—all electricity. The premature infant's ventilator and the sound system at the rock concert—all our essentials and most of our diversions are dependent in some way on this.

{snip}

[bemildred]

1. Well, that's what happens when you have too many people with a bad attitude and time on their hands.

They point lasers at aircraft too, and shoot random strangers.

[Feral Child]

2. Hopelessly naive.

Do you really think this was accomplished by a bored teenager with too little to occupy his time?

I think this was a planned assault completed with military precision.

Hell, our Special Ops units wish they could perform this well.

I also think it was a Test. Imagine ten units hitting ten substations in the NY area simultaneously.
During a blizzard, perhaps.

[bemildred]

3. Who said anything about bored teenagers? They shoot up schools. nt

[Feral Child]

10. Your tone

minimized the importance of this attack, my reply was sarcastic hyperbole holding up a mirror for you.

No, you didn't literally say "teenagers", so I guess you can consider yourself unjustly scolded, if you like.

This was a surgical strike by a motivated group, not a prank. A terrorist cell testing their tactics, in my opinion.

[bemildred]

11. You call me "hopelessly naive" and then blather on about "my tone"? nt

[Feral Child]

13. Yes.

I "blathered", and yes, your post was naive. I did note you subsequently changed your "tone" when confronted with several other knowledgeable posts pointing out the consequences and sophistication of this strike.

I'm walking away now so go ahead and preen those ruffled feathers. I'm not going to waste any more time correcting you, it's obvious you want to get personally involved and I don't find you interesting enough.

Have a better one...

[bemildred]

14. Have a nice day. nt

[proudretiredvet]

4. This is kind of a scary Revelation.

I've done some writing and analysis on this subject and predicted this type of attack. I do not think it takes a genius to reach that point either.
Expand this from a power sub station to several sub stations and then do the research as to how a cascading electricity outage event is generated/happens on our outdated and insecure electrical grid.
Next factor in that the water supply system to the cities is vulnerable to interruption and that the water delivery system in the cities is pump/electricity dependent.
All of this can take weeks or months to repair.
Huston, we have a problem, a big problem.
Things can be done with little money and without disrupting life to mitigate the results of an event like this. A little planning and preparation goes a long ways.
Preparing for an interruption of water and electrical services is not a Right Wing owned topic. It is about people and their families.

[bemildred]

5. I quite agree. nt

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Sophisticated but low-tech power grid attack baffles authorities

From yesterday's Los Angeles Times:

Sophisticated but low-tech power grid attack baffles authorities

Authorities don't have a motive or suspects in the attack on a PG&E power substation in Silicon Valley last year, but ominous theories abound.

By Richard A. Serrano and Evan Halper
February 11, 2014, 4:00 a.m.

WASHINGTON — They came after midnight, two or more armed individuals so deft that they cut telecommunication cables in an underground vault and outsmarted security cameras and motion sensors at the power substation in a remote corner of Santa Clara County.

At daylight, FBI agents began poring over time-lapse photographs from the surveillance cameras. But the photos revealed only staccato muzzle flashes from a semiautomatic weapon and sparks as shots hit rows of transformers. There was not a face, not a shadow, of who was doing the firing.

The shooters disappeared into the gloom minutes before the first police car arrived.

The military-style raid on April 16 knocked out 17 giant transformers at the Metcalf Transmission Substation, which feeds power to Silicon Valley. The FBI is still working the case, and agents say they are confident it was not the work of terrorists.
....

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

Times staff writers Brian Bennett in Washington and Marc Lifsher in Sacramento contributed to this report.

Big shoutout to The Wall Street Journal. for bringing this story to our attention. If you can read only one newspaper, make it this one.

[proudretiredvet]

9. I may argue about the sophisticated part of this.

I would also agree that it was low tech and I'm also sure it was not done by well trained professionals. Along with some of the talking head Media morons, on FOX News, the shooters were very obviously gun/ballistic ignorant and they failed to do complete research.

The talking head on FOX kept referring to AUTOMATIC weapons being fired that night. We are talking about Cali here and this happened not far from people in their homes on a quiet night. What do you think would have happened if they heard a bunch of fully automatic gunfire? Nope it did not happen that way. The weapons used were almost certainly semiautomatics.

They knew precisely where the telephone and telemetry lines were located underground and how to get to them. They knew exactly what they had to sever to avoid immediate electronic detection. Some person who was involved in the planning of this had been there before and had enough knowledge to know these things.

They did have someone watching/listening and knew how LE would approach when they responded. They did have an escape route scouted and planned out. That they left just before LE arrived and that they were not seen or detained were not accidents or luck.

The "Tell" in this for me that they were not pros was what they targeted and the cartridge/caliber they used in the attack.

They targeted the wrong transformers. There were some larger, much harder to buy and much longer to get to site, transformers sitting right in front of them that they ignored. Destroying the bigger transformers would have caused the power outage they desired and would have taken many more weeks to replace/repair. Their target selection was not well researched.

The 7.62X39 round that they used is often referred to as a high powered cartridge. Not really. When compared to the common hunting cartridges it is rather anemic. Many other, different, very common, calibers would have done much more damage with many fewer shots.

They did some of their research and some of the planning well but failed to use the proper caliber of firearm and they failed to select the equally exposed and higher return targets.

You can bet that they will not make these same mistakes next time.

[Feral Child]

12. I have to disagree.

I believe this was a limited-intent training mission and was executed with a high degree of professionalism.

The Soviet 7.62X39 mm, while not the most beefy of cartridges, is one of the most prolific. Just the sort of round a guerrilla unit would prefer due to it's widespread availability. Also, weapons in that caliber are much easier to obtain, if you are trying to arm a substantial cadre with uniformity in order to simplify logistics.

Sure, they could have gone .50 caliber, but owners of such a huge weapon are much rarer; hence, easier to identify (especially since they are outlawed in Cali). Additionally, the Fifty is a lot harder to
pack when you're expecting a rapid retreat-&-dispersal.

As to picking the wrong targets, they likely intended to minimize damage to avoid too great a public exposure and outcry. If this was a training mission, especially one executed to impress financial and political backers, that is exactly the limited target they would choose. The objective wouldn't necessary be to cause actual damage (save that for D-Day) but rather to display their ability to plan and carry out a potentially devastating attack with impunity.

These are some studious boys and I think we'll be hearing from them again.

[proudretiredvet]

15. Could be.

I will still not agree with you on the round they used and weapons that shoot that round are by far not the easiest to get in Cali.

A much better choice would have been A 270, 30-06, 308, or a 300 win mag. It is all about impact energy on and in the target and the bullet construction that makes this most effective use of that energy in the intended target. The 7.62X39 was by far not the best round for this target. I believe that this group used the weapons that they had on hand. True pros would have obtained the weapons that they needed for maximum effectiveness.

With a better cartridge in decent common scoped hunting rifle any rifleman worth his salt could have backed off 300 yards and taken out those transformers. There would have been less personal exposure, it could have been done much quicker, brass recovery would have been easy leaving no evidence except the expended bullets that were in the transformers.

They had to know that this would draw attention and that things would be better protected next time. Any advantage is now gone. They needed to take their best shot on the initial attack. PG&E has already started altering their sub stations to both conceal the transformers and to harden them. They have even asked for a rate hike to accomplish this.

[Feral Child]

16. You make very valid points on ballistics.

Still, many militaries favor this round for general use, and the Rooskies use it in their Dragonov, if I'm not mistaken.

For the reason you state, I believe this was a "demo" to prove capability. There are many utilities that can be targeted instead of power companies. Our infrastructure is, overall, decrepit and vulnerable.

If I am right, I'm sure prospective backers will be impressed. If you are, they are some very capable and dangerous amateurs and I believe we'll hear from them again.

I certainly do not believe this was a lone gun-nut prank.

EDIT:
Should have researched before posting. The Dragunov is chambered for the 7.62X54 mm, and uses a purpose built sniper round in that caliber, though it is capable of firing standard 7.62X54.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Attack on electric grid raises alarm

Another one.

Attack on electric grid raises alarm

Damage to power station in shooting last year prompts worries over terrorism.

By Evan Halper and Marc Lifsher
February 6, 2014, 5:55 p.m.

Shooters armed with assault rifles and some knowledge of electrical utilities have prompted new worries on the vulnerability of California's vast power grid.

A 2013 attack on an electric substation near San Jose that nearly knocked out Silicon Valley's power supply was initially downplayed as vandalism by Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the facility's owner. Gunfire from semiautomatic weapons did extensive damage to 17 transformers that sent grid operators scrambling to avoid a blackout. ... But this week, a former top power regulator offered a far more ominous interpretation: The attack was terrorism, he said, and if circumstances had been just a little different, it could have been disastrous.

Jon Wellinghoff, who was chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission when the shooting took place, said that attack was clearly executed by well-trained individuals seeking to do significant damage to the area, and he fears it was a test run for an even larger assault. ... "It would not be that hard to bring down the entire region west of the Rockies if you, in fact, had a coordinated attack like this against a number of substations," Wellinghoff said Thursday. "This [shooting] event shows there are people out there capable of such an attack." ... Wellinghoff's warning about the incident at PG&E's Metcalf substation was reported this week by the Wall Street Journal, expanding on a December report by Foreign Policy magazine.

"We've got a vulnerability and we've got to get serious about fixing it," said Granger Morgan, who heads the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. "Almost everything we do in modern society relies on electricity." ... A National Research Council committee he chaired issued a 2007 report warning how easy it would be for a criminal enterprise to knock out the power grid in a way that "could deny large regions of the country access to bulk power systems for weeks or even months," leading to "turmoil, widespread public fear and an image of helplessness that would play directly into the hands of terrorists."
....

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

Electric Power Grid 'Inherently Vulnerable' to Terrorist Attacks; Report Delayed in Classification Review, Will Be Updated

Date: Nov. 14, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON — The U.S. electric power delivery system is vulnerable to terrorist attacks that could cause much more damage to the system than natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy, blacking out large regions of the country for weeks or months and costing many billions of dollars, says a newly released report by the National Research Council.

According to the report, the security of the U.S. electric power system is in urgent need of attention. The power grid is inherently vulnerable physically because it is spread across hundreds of miles, and many key facilities are unguarded. This vulnerability is exacerbated by a reorganizational shift in the mid-1990s, prompted by federal legislation to introduce competition in bulk power across the country, resulting in the transmission network being used in ways for which it was not designed. As a result, many parts of the bulk high-voltage system are heavily stressed, leaving it especially at risk to multiple failures following an attack. Important pieces of equipment are decades old and lack improved technology for sensing and control that could help limit outages and their consequences -- not only those caused by a terrorist attack but also in the event of natural disasters.

"Power system disruptions experienced to date in the United States, be they from natural disasters or malfunctions, have had immense economic impacts," said M. Granger Morgan, professor and head of the department of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, and chair of the committee that wrote the report. "Considering that a systematically designed and executed terrorist attack could cause disruptions even more widespread and of longer duration, it is no stretch of the imagination to think that such attacks could produce damage costing hundreds of billions of dollars."

This report was completed by the National Research Council in the fall of 2007, but the sponsoring agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, decided at that time that the report would be classified in its entirety. After a formal request from the Research Council for an updated security classification review, the report was cleared for public release in fall 2012. A foreword to the report, written by Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences, and Charles M. Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering, provides details about the delay and says that the key findings of the report remain "highly relevant."
....

Contacts:

Lorin Hancock, Media Relations Officer
Shaquanna Shields, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail [e-mail]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. 'Military-Style' Raid on California Power Station Spooks U.S.

This is the story that caught the eye of The Wall Street Journal.

'Military-Style' Raid on California Power Station Spooks U.S.

BY Shane Harris
DECEMBER 27, 2013 - 01:50 PM

When U.S. officials warn about "attacks" on electric power facilities these days, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a computer hacker trying to shut the lights off in a city with malware. But a more traditional attack on a power station in California has U.S. officials puzzled and worried about the physical security of the the electrical grid--from attackers who come in with guns blazing.

Around 1:00 AM on April 16, at least one individual (possibly two) entered two different manholes at the PG&E Metcalf power substation, southeast of San Jose, and cut fiber cables in the area around the substation. That knocked out some local 911 services, landline service to the substation, and cell phone service in the area, a senior U.S. intelligence official told Foreign Policy. The intruder(s) then fired more than 100 rounds from what two officials described as a high-powered rifle at several transformers in the facility. Ten transformers were damaged in one area of the facility, and three transformer banks -- or groups of transformers -- were hit in another, according to a PG&E spokesman.
....

Local investigators seemed to hit a dead end in June, so they released surveillance footage of the shooting. But that apparently produced no new information. The FBI says there have been no tips from the public about who the shooter might be and what he was doing there. ... The incident might have stayed a local news story, but this month, Rep. Henry Waxman, the California Democrat and ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, mentioned it at a hearing on regulatory issues. "It is clear that the electric grid is not adequately protected from physical or cyber attacks," Waxman said. He called the shooting at the the San Jose facility "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."
....

At least one senior official thinks the government is focusing too heavily on cyber attacks. Jon Wellinghoff, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said last month that an attack by intruders with guns and rifles could be just as devastating as a cyber attack. ... A shooter "could get 200 yards away with a .22 rifle and take the whole thing out," Wellinghoff said last month at a conference sponsored by Bloomberg. His proposed defense: A metal sheet that would block the transformer from view. "If you can't see through the fence, you can't figure out where to shoot anymore," Wellinghoff said. Price tag? A "couple hundred bucks." A lot cheaper than the billions the administration has spent in the past four years beefing up cyber security of critical infrastructure in the United States and on government computer networks.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. Grid Terror Attacks: U.S. Government Is Urged to Take Steps for Protection

This is in the news again.

Grid Terror Attacks: U.S. Government Is Urged to Take Steps for Protection

Business
Groups Say Industry Response to Potential Threats Is Insufficient

By Rebecca Smith
July 6, 2014 2:53 p.m. ET

Two research groups urged the federal government to take action to protect the electric grid from physical attacks, rather than leave security decisions in the hands of the utility industry. ... The Congressional Research Service recommended that Congress examine whether a national-level analysis of the grid's vulnerabilities is needed or if individual power companies' internal security assessments are sufficient.

Separately, a nonprofit research group said efforts proposed by utilities to harden the grid fall short because they don't account for how one region might depend on others. The report from the Battelle Memorial Institute, which operates six of the U.S. Energy Department's laboratories, said attacks could occur across more than one electric system, destabilizing large areas.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering new safety regulations proposed by an industry-dominated electric power organization. FERC, which regulates the nation's high-voltage transmission system, told the industry in March that it must act to fortify the grid, after a series of articles appeared in The Wall Street Journal detailing how susceptible the electric system is to attack.

The first article described an April 2013 armed attack on a substation near San Jose, Calif., which threatened electricity supplies to Silicon Valley. Other articles pointed out that transformers are especially vulnerable to damage and that an analysis by federal experts said an attack on as few as nine critical substations could result in a nationwide blackout.
....

Write to Rebecca Smith at [e-mail]

An attack on a PG&E substation near San Jose, Calif., in April knocked out 17 transformers like this one. Talia Herman for The Wall Street Journal

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. Sheriff's Staff Calls Response to Metcalf Attack a Debacle

Sheriff's Staff Calls Response to Metcalf Attack a Debacle

It was a major attack on a South Bay electrical substation, but first responders are now saying that a member of Congress—and the public—may not be getting the truth

By Tony Kovaleski, Liz Wagner and Mark Villarreal

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2014 • Updated at 5:51 PM PDTThree members of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office who responded to a major attack on a South Bay electrical substation last year recently revealed their belief that those in charge mishandled critical decisions just hours after the incident.

Around 1:30 a.m. on April 16 last year, an attacker or attackers opened fire on Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Metcalf substation located off Highway 101 in south San Jose. Bullets from a high-powered rifle exploded through 17 large transformers causing them to ooze oil, overheat and finally shut down. The attack lasted just 19 minutes and caused more than $15 million in damage. It could have caused a significant blackout across the Bay Area.

The event has been called the most significant attack ever on our nation’s power grid. Some have labeled it an act of terrorism. High-ranking government sources have told the Investigative Unit they believe it was a trial run for a larger attack on the grid. Yet, those first on scene that morning say the response to the incident was a debacle.

“This was far more than vandalism,” said one of the first responders. “It was a serious attack and it was compromised from the start.”