WINDSOR, Va. - For Jonathan Thompson, the Chief Operations Officer for Windsor-based Community Electric Cooperative, it's been a part of his family for at least three generations. The co-op has also served a bigger family, having the power to give power.
“We care about our people, and we care about them,” Thompson said. “When they restore a section of line that had been out for a duration of time, they hear cheers from the neighborhoods. There are cheers from the streets. People bring them food and stuff out.”
The co-op, however, is concerned after an attack earlier this month in North Carolina at power substations.
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Investigators believe someone used a high-powered rifle to shoot the substations, leaving thousands in the dark for days. That’s just one of several reported substation attacks happening across the country in the past two months, according to CNN.
“We’re used to dealing with natural disasters causing power outages that affect all of our members,” Thompson told News 3. “If it’s deliberate, it raises everybody’s stress level, because now, it’s a new element of surprise to the industry.”
Wednesday, News 3 got rare access to Community Electric Cooperative’s facilities and asked about infrastructure security. The co-op serves about 12,000 customers in rural areas of western Hampton Roads. One substation News 3 got access to serves about 25 percent of their customers.
When asked, Thompson said the co-op hasn't received any physical or cyber threats.
“We have security measures in place that are a multi-layered approach,” he said.
This includes surveillance cameras at their substations.
Since the North Carolina attack, officials also added they’ve had heightened alerts in the area with general patrols taking place around their facilities. Thompson added they’ve also been in contact with local, state, and federal authorities, however, they’ve not had any additional resources applied to their systems since the attacks.
The co-op does say they also have other contingency plans in place so no one gets left in the dark.
“The biggest thing that we have here at Community Electric is a network of connectivity of our system,” Thompson said.
One resource is the ability of their other substations to carry the load if one substation were to go down. Another is a microgrid located at their headquarters to help if power were to go down.
“If for some reason, the line were to go out that feeds our facility, we have the capability locally to run for several days without power with what we have on-site,” Thompson said.
News 3 also reached out to Dominion Energy regarding the recent attacks on power substations.
Dominion released the following statement to News 3:
“Dominion Energy is aware of the incidents at multiple energy facilities in North and South Carolina last week. Our security procedures rely on an integrated set of protections to safeguard the grid. Dominion Energy personnel are communicating with federal, state, and local law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and industry peers to proactively assess these incidents.”
Dominion Energy Virginia (DEV) officials are also closely monitoring the attack on two Duke Energy substations that happened on Dec. 3, and they’ve not experienced any threats to their substation infrastructure since that incident. DEV officials have also reached out to Duke Energy to offer help.
DEV officials added they’re committed to safeguarding their infrastructure to help minimize the impact of potential threats, both natural and man-made, to protect their system. They’ve made focused and significant investments in protecting their substations from physical and cyber threats, while adding dedicated and professional personnel for monitoring and response.
According to DEV, physical security measures are in place at substations and other critical infrastructure to protect against threats and disasters. DEV officials have also engaged with state and local law enforcement and have requested substation personnel to be extra vigilant. They’re also encouraging you to report any suspicious activities seen around Dominion Energy facilities to law enforcement.
Meanwhile, Thompson said their co-op has an emergency response plan in place for every possible event, including terrorism and vandalism.
They're also getting the word out to always report any suspicious activity to the co-op or local police.
“We want all of our members to feel safe, just because we know the importance of having electricity at your home,” Thompson said.
Thompson also told News 3 the co-op is raising awareness to make sure residents have other resources in place, including flashlights, a generator, and plenty of food, if an outage were to occur.
Community Electric Co-op officials are also emphasizing the use of SmartHub for customers. The app allows customers to report outages, images, concerns, and more, as well as communicate with co-op staff, view usage history, and pay their bills.
