A really big hammer to help stop electric sector attacks

There was a prosecution recently into a planned attack on substations in the Baltimore area. One of the two co-conspirators was sentenced to 18 years in prison for her part. The plan never got as far as the execution phase. The recent planned drone attack on a substation in Tennessee, stopped before successful execution, ended in the arrest of the perpetrator and his being charged with two federal charges that could ultimately end with a life sentence for him. The multi-station attacks in the Tacoma, Washington area on Christmas Day 2022 was quickly solved by the FBI.

All of these cases have something in common. They were charged under Title 18 USC Section 1366 Destruction of an Energy Facility.

From the website thefederalcriminalattorneys.com:

“The penalties for causing damage or destruction at an energy facility, or attempting to do so, can be quite severe, depending on the circumstances and the extent of damage done. In the case of attempted destruction, the potential damage is done.

• If the damage, or potential damage, is valued at greater than $5000 but less than $100,000: you could face up to 5 years in prison;
• If the damage, or potential damage, is valued at greater than $100,000: you could face up to 20 years in prison;
• If your efforts result in a “significant interruption or impairment of a function” of the energy facility: you could face up to 20 years in prison regardless of the cost of the damage.
• If your efforts result in someone’s death: the maximum sentence jumps to life in prison.

In all of these cases, you could also face a fine of up to $250,000.”

I encourage you to go to the link and read the full article.

This law, if better publicized, could have a profound deterrent effect. It is difficult for outsiders to estimate the value of the damage they do in a substation, and it is easy to exceed the $5,000 or the $100,000 threshold very quickly. A perpetrator can end up facing 20 years in prison without realizing the seriousness of what they are doing. If they knew this before they damaged the substation it might have made them think twice.

This law has plenty of bite. Now we need to work on the bark.

Discuss this with your local Infragard chapter, state fusion center, or the FBI directly. Can you put signage on your sites referring to this law? Could you put the FBI and your company logo on the sign, which would imply federal support in protecting the site? Would the local FBI be willing to participate in public service announcements? How can you help the FBI to help you?

We have all the tools we need to deter crime against the electric sector. We have laws that provide severe penalties for perpetrators. We have alternatives to copper grounding materials. We have affordable live video monitoring technology and services available to us. We have the incomparable NERC Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center to ensure the right information gets to the right place. We have all the government support we could ask for, both in the United States and Canada.

We just need to use them.