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   From: feartheguns@liberalism.com   
      
   No word on the negroes and hispanics who have been stealing   
   copper.   
      
   Newly reported details about a 52-minute sniper attack on a   
   central California electrical substation last year are raising   
   concerns from Capitol Hill and beyond, amid questions over   
   whether it was the work of terrorists.   
      
   The April 16, 2013, attack had not been widely publicized until   
   The Wall Street Journal reported new details in a story on   
   Wednesday. The attack reportedly started when at least one   
   person entered an underground vault to cut telephone cables, and   
   attackers fired more than 100 shots into Pacific Gas &   
   Electric’s Metcalf transmission substation, knocking out 17   
   transformers.   
      
   Electric officials were able to avert a blackout, but it took 27   
   days to repair the damage.   
      
   The FBI doesn’t think the incident was a terror attack, an   
   agency spokesman told the Journal. However, Jon Wellinghoff,   
   chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the   
   time, disagrees.   
      
   Wellinghoff, a now-retired George W. Bush appointee, called it   
   “the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving   
   the U.S. power grid that has ever occurred.”   
      
   No arrests have been made in the case. But the Republican-led   
   House Energy and Commerce Committee said Wednesday that   
   lawmakers continue to follow the probe and that protecting the   
   grid remains a top priority.   
      
   "We are aware of the attack and continue to monitor the   
   investigation closely,” a committee spokeswoman told   
   FoxNews.com. “Committee staff has been briefed by agency   
   officials and industry representatives. The security and   
   reliability of the grid is a pressing concern, and we will   
   continue our work to mitigate all emerging threats."   
      
   Wellinghoff, who spoke to the Journal, based his conclusion that   
   this was terrorism on the analysis of experts he brought to the   
   crime scene. The analysis pointed to the shell casings having no   
   fingerprints and evidence that the shooting positions had been   
   pre-arranged.   
      
   Wellinghoff went public with the story after briefing federal   
   agencies, Congress and the White House, citing national security   
   concerns and fear that electric-grid sites don’t have adequate   
   protection.   
      
   In addition, retired PG&E executive Mark Johnson said at an   
   industry gathering a few months ago that he feared the attack   
   was a dress rehearsal for a larger event, according to the   
   Journal.   
      
   The utility company responded to a call seeking comment by   
   referring FoxNews.com to a statement from the Edison Electric   
   Institute.   
      
   "The industry takes its role as critical infrastructure   
   providers very seriously," said Scott Aaronson, the institute's   
   senior director of national security policy. "Publicizing   
   clearly sensitive information about critical infrastructure   
   protection endangers the safety of the American people and the   
   integrity of the grid.”   
      
   Joy Ditto, a vice president with the American Public Power   
   Association, told FoxNews.com about a recent meeting on Capitol   
   Hill that dealt specifically with the attack and included a   
   bipartisan group of senators, industry executives and federal   
   agencies.   
      
   She said utility companies have been able to prevent such   
   attacks in large part because they share information with   
   related parties.   
      
   However, she also said the meeting, which covered a broad range   
   of topics, concluded with a commitment from executives to keep   
   the senators better informed and a desire for additional   
   legislation to legally protect those who share information about   
   issues like attacks and disaster preparation.   
      
   “But we’d prefer not to see more regulations,” she said.   
      
   Though the attack on the San Jose substation didn’t cause a   
   blackout, isolated incidents have in fact caused major problems   
   on the U.S. electric grid.   
      
   In 2003, for example, downed trees toppled transmission lines,   
   creating a series of blackouts across Canada and the eastern   
   U.S. that lasted for days.   
      
   Security for the grid has long been a concern for government and   
   the utility industry, but most recently the focus has been on   
   the risk of cyber attacks.   
      
   Mike Hyland, an APPA senior vice president, argued Wednesday the   
   industry indeed took notice of the attack but has been on high   
   alert for decades -- responding to such issues as the Y2K   
   computer issue, the 9/11 terror attacks, Hurricane Katrina and   
   most recently Superstorm Sandy.   
      
   “The industry has done a good job of keeping security at the   
   forefront,” he said.   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/05/2013-sniper-attack-on-   
   power-grid-still-concern-in-washington-and-for-utilities/   
       
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)