One of the most bizarre
stories of the last year was the shooting near San Jose California. It wasn’t a random act of violence; not gang
war; not a prank; not Joe Six Pack loosening off a few rounds. A sharpshooter with knowledge of how a major
electrical substation works sneaks into the sensitive area during the dead of
night and cuts fiber cables to knock out 911 and cell phone service. Then, he
or she or they take 120 shots, over 20 minutes, from a high-powered rifle to
"methodically" make transformers overheat and shut down, knocking out
the substation. As soon as police come
near the sight, the gunmen slip away and are never caught. This happened April 16, 2013 at the Pacific
Gas & Electric Company's Metcalf power substation. News of this event was kept out of the press
for many months as various law enforcement agencies investigated. The damage was severe. It took 27 days and $16 million to repair the
17 transformers and bring the substation back online. While it was out, the PG&E grid picked up
the slack.
Experts from the U.S. Navy’s Dahlgren Surface Warfare Center in Virginia were flown in after the
attack. After walking the site with FBI agents, the military experts said
the attack looked to be a coordinated “military style” professional job.
Jon Wellinghoff,
chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the time of the attack,
calls it "the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the
grid that has ever occurred" in the U.S., according to the
Journal.
The main point for investors is what Mark Johnson, a former PG&E
official, told the Wall Street Journal.
This could be a "dress
rehearsal" for a major terrorist attack.
"Critical infrastructure
are things we rely on as a country in order to function: electric grid, air traffic control, water system, stock market. And if they go down, it could potentially be
catastrophic" said Michael McNerney, a security
consultant with Delta Risk.
