The tens of thousands of customers in central North Carolina who haven’t had power since two weekend attacks on utility substations should see the lights come on by late Wednesday, a spokesperson for Duke Energy said at a news conference.
The two substations in Moore County were damaged by gunfire Saturday night in what investigators believe were “intentional” and “targeted” attacks, officials said, with Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields saying that whoever fired at the substations “knew exactly what they were doing.”
Duke Energy, which has has about 47,000 customers in Moore County, has made “very good progress” since Saturday and moved up its restoration timeline by a day, saying it expects most customers to have power restored by late Wednesday...
...nvestigators are “leaving no stone unturned to find out who did this,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told “CNN This Morning” on Tuesday. FBI and state investigators have joined the investigation.
“This was a malicious, criminal attack on the entire community that plunged tens of thousands of people into darkness,” Cooper said.
“Our priorities now are health and safety, getting the power back on as quickly as possible, and making sure that federal, state and local law enforcement find out who did this, and why, and bring them to justice.”
Several communities across the county began experiencing power outages just after 7 p.m. Saturday, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office said.
Whoever fired bullets at the substations “knew exactly what they were doing,” Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said Sunday.
Fields on Sunday noted “no group has stepped up to acknowledge or accept they’re the ones who (did) it.”
Investigators were trying to determine whether both substations were fired at simultaneously, or one after the other, the sheriff said Monday.
