3 power substations vandalized in Washington state, over 14K lost power - ABC News

Three powerfulness substation facilities were vandalized successful Pierce County, Washington, connected Christmas morning, knocking retired powerfulness to much than 14,000 customers, authorities said.

Two of the break-ins were astatine Tacoma Public Utilities substations and the 3rd was astatine a Puget Sound Energy station, according to the sheriff's bureau successful Pierce County, which encompasses Tacoma.

No suspects are successful custody, according to the sheriff's office.

"It is chartless if determination are immoderate motives oregon if this was a coordinated onslaught connected the powerfulness systems," the sheriff's bureau said successful a statement.

Tacoma Public Utilities said astir 2,000 of its customers were initially without powerfulness and crews are moving connected restoration, aboriginal updating that each but astir 900 customers had powerfulness restored.

"Unfortunately, the impacts to our strategy from today's deliberate harm are much terrible successful immoderate places than archetypal investigating indicated," the institution said. "Some customers volition beryllium restored person to 8 AM tomorrow. We admit your patience arsenic we respond to this intentional vandalism to our system."

"We cognize this incidental has impacted galore people’s vacation celebrations, and our crews are moving hard to get powerfulness safely restored to each customers arsenic rapidly arsenic we can," it added.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin past month informing that U.S. captious infrastructure could beryllium among the targets of imaginable attacks by "lone offenders and tiny groups motivated by a scope of ideological beliefs and/or idiosyncratic grievances."

Earlier this month, two electrical substations were changeable up successful North Carolina, causing tens of thousands of customers to suffer powerfulness and prompting section officials to state a authorities of emergency.