Ex-energy official calls substation attack 'terrorism'

February 5, 2014

Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chief calls 2013 attack 'domestic terrorism.'

The man who headed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the time of last April's attack on a PG&E energy substation in San Jose is calling the station failure and sniper attack an act of terrorism.
Jon Wellinghoff tells The Wall Street Journal that the attack was: "The most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred" in the United States.
At about 1 a.m. on April 16th, someone entered an underground vault and cut underground cables, shutting off service to one community, ABC reports. Snipers then opened fire for 19 minutes, knocking out 17 transformers that steer power to the Silicon Valley, according to ABC. The suspects disappeared one minute before police reached the scene, ABC reports.
The attack damaged substation equipment and severed nearby fiber optic cables underground, CBS reports.
Wellinghoff also says he fears the incident was a rehearsal for an even more destructive plot, and if it were to be replicated across the country, it could black out much of the country.
Wellinghoff told the Journal that he was going public with his concerns because he believes thousands of utility sites are not well protected.
Former FBI agent Rick Smith agrees the attack was planned, but that is where the agreement ends.
"There would have to be some information from an informant, terrorist group informant, whether it domestic or international, that some group was responsible for it," Smith told ABC.
The FBI says the incident was not terrorism, but the agency and PG&E say they are investigating, according to ABC.
Wellinghoff headed the FERC from January 20, 2009, to Nov. 25, 2013, and was the agency's longest serving chairman. He is now a law partner in the San Francisco office of Stoel Rives.

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