In Moore County, North Carolina, power crews are working to restore electricity to thousands following attacks on power substations, and that situation has the attention of power providers around the D.C. region.
In statements to WTOP, Pepco, BGE and Dominion Energy all said they are in contact with authorities as they monitor the situation in North Carolina.
Since Saturday, investigations into the power outages uncovered power substations that were hit by gunfire. The search for those responsible continues.
“Dominion Energy personnel are communicating with federal, state and local law enforcement, intelligence agencies and industry peers to proactively assess the North Carolina incident,” Dominion spokeswoman Peggy Fox said in a statement.
Its security plan has protections in place to safeguard the power grid, Fox said.
BGE and Pepco, which are both a part of Exelon, said in a joint statement that they have worked and invested to make sure their systems are “secured and protected.”
“Our Emergency Preparedness and Security personnel are in regular contact with numerous federal, state and local security agencies and other key stakeholders to stay updated on any potential threats so that we are able to respond safely and as quickly as possible if needed,” BGE spokesperson Richard Yost and Pepco spokesperson Ben Armstrong said in a joint statement.
The power providers also work with government and industry partners to come up with new ways to address constantly evolving threats against power systems, Armstrong and Yost said.
The three companies didn’t speak of any similar threats toward substations in the D.C. region, nor did they say whether security around area substations will be beefed up in response to what is going on in North Carolina.
