A North Carolina energy substation was broken by gunfire early Tuesday within the third identified energy substation capturing within the state since early December.

Crews responded to an alarm on the substation within the metropolis of Thomasville, southwest of Greensboro, the place they found the substation transformer was struck by an “apparent gunshot,” the electrical energy supplier EnergyUnited mentioned in a statement.

The utility mentioned no prospects skilled an influence outage in consequence.

The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office mentioned legislation enforcement investigators canvassed the scene and gathered proof and consider the capturing occurred at about 3 a.m.

An investigation is ongoing.

The FBI and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations had been notified and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is conducting its personal investigation, the sheriff’s office said.

In early December, two energy substations in neighboring Moore County had been broken by gunfire on the identical evening, knocking out energy for tens of 1000’s of residents for a number of days.

No arrests have been introduced associated to that capturing. The FBI remains to be seeking information.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at the time that the Moore County assault “raises a new level of threat,” and mentioned state and federal officers would work to “harden our infrastructure where that’s necessary and work to prevent future damage.”

Energy safety specialists say it is robust to cease assaults supposed to knock out electrical energy, particularly in rural areas.

“The grid is extremely large,” mentioned Errol Southers, professor of nationwide and homeland safety on the University of Southern California, speaking to NPR final month. “It has about 6,400 power plants across the country, some 55,000 substations and over 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines serviced by 3,000 companies. … It’s extremely challenging to monitor and protect. And many of these places are very remote, and so officers have to get there. And by the time they do, the attackers are already gone.”

Four energy substations in Washington state had been broken by assaults on Christmas Day. Between mid-November and Dec. 8, not less than six other attacks occurred on substations in Oregon and Washington.