Moore County Power Outage: The New Year Brings No New Suspects

After the Moore County substation attacks, stop lights throughout the county were out for many days along with power to homes, schools, and government facilities. Source for Picture: BBC News via Reuters

On December 3, 2022, an unknown individual or group of individuals sent Moore County residents into darkness. While investigators have been quiet regarding details of the attack, they have revealed that the attack involved the firing of multiple gunshots into two separate Duke Energy substations in Moore County. When all was said and done, about 45,000 customers were left without power, with many customers not regaining power until four days later. 

While there has been a $75,000 reward posted for any information leading to the arrest of individuals involved in the crime, no concrete suspects or theories as to the reason for the attack have been announced. However, some sources indicate that law enforcement officials seem to be focusing on two possible motives for the attack. One line of reasoning behind the attack could be related to a drag show event at a local Moore County theater. The outage did throw a wrench into the drag show, hosted by SandHills Pride, as it occurred at the beginning of the event. However Durham-based drag queen Naomi Dix had no problem asking the audience to light up the stage with their phone flashlights and continue her performance for over 370 attendees. When asked about the possible connection, the Moore County Sheriff ultimately declined to comment. Nevertheless, the frequency of protests accompanied by threats of violence surrounding drag shows and other LGBTQ+ events around the country makes the proximity of the Moore County substation attacks and local drag event suspicious. 

Another possibility concerning motives of the attacks can be found in online forums and chat rooms used by a myriad of extremist groups. Extremists in these chat rooms can plan to carry out attacks on important aspects of public infrastructure. While no extremist groups have taken credit for this attack, the Moore county attack is very similar to other attacks and plots tied to radical groups. Plots uncovered in 2020 and 2021 to attack substations across the nation were tied to groups of men with neo-Nazi ideology, some of which have connections to eastern North Carolina.  

Law enforcement is continuing to stay tight-lipped about the investigation entering into the new year. There have still been no official suspects or possible motives announced for the attacks, nor has any group or individual taken credit. However, Moore county residents will enter the new year with rumors of increased power bills to help with substation maintenance from the attack. Jeff Brooks, a representative of Duke Energy, provided little clarity about the rumors, asserting that “no decisions” have been made about how the costs of the repairs will be handled.