Attack on PG&E Silicon Valley Power Substation - Terrorism Try-out?

▶ Mystery Assault on Power Grid Raises Alarms - YouTube

Published on Feb 5, 2014

A sniper attack in April that knocked out an electrical substation near San Jose, Calif., has raised fears that the country's power grid is vulnerable to terrorism. WSJ's Rebecca Smith has the details. Photo: Talia Herman for The Wall Street Journal
Sniper Attack On Calif. Power Station Raises Terrorism Fears : The Two-Way : NPR
Was an attack last April on an electric power station near San Jose, Calif., the work of vandals or something far more dangerous — domestic terrorism or a trial run by an individual or organization bent on damaging the nation's electric grid?

The Wall Street Journal, picking up from an earlier report by , explores that question Wednesday about what happened at PG&E Corp.'s Metcalf transmission substation — an event that has received relatively little attention until now.
 
Attack on Metcalf substation in San Jose called 'terrorism' | abc7news.com

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- A debate is emerging over last April's sniper attack on a PG&E substation in San Jose; a former federal regulator is calling it terrorism; the FBI does not believe that's the case. 

The shooting was captured on surveillance video. First you can see a streak of light which may have been from a flashlight, followed by the muzzle flash of rifles and sparks of bullets hitting the chain link fence around the substation.

It happened April 16th just before 1 a.m. Someone dropped into an underground vault and cut phone cables, interrupting service to most of Gilroy. Then, the snipers opened fire on the substation, shooting for 19 minutes. More than 100 fingerprint-free shell casings were found at the scene. They knocked out 17 transformers that supply power to Silicon Valley. When police arrived, they were gone.


Shots fired at PG&E substation; Silicon Valley urged to conserve electricity - San Jose Mercury News
SAN JOSE -- Silicon Valley businesses and residents were urged Tuesday to conserve electricity after gunshots damaged PG&E's Metcalf transmission substation in San Jose, a critical hub in the Bay Area transmission system.

San Jose: Sheriff's Office release video of attack on PG&E substation - San Jose Mercury News

In the early-morning hours of April 16, someone opened fire at the utility's substation on Metcalf Road near Highway 101. The gunshots damaged five transformers and caused cooling oil to leak from a transformer bank, and the damage prompted state regulators to urge electricity conservation in the ensuing days. AT&T phone service in the area was also affected.

The dark and moderately grainy footage shows a series of gunshots fired over a roughly one-minute span, between the 1:54 and 3:07 marks. Sheriff's spokesman Kurtis Stenderup said investigators continue to analyze other footage taken at the time.

A month later, a man dressed all in black was seen lurking near the substation, touching off a large manhunt by Sheriff's deputies, but the man eluded capture.


▶ PG&E Substation Surveillance Video - YouTube

Published on Jun 4, 2013

New surveillance video from the PG&E substation on Metcalf Road. The video shows bullets hitting the fence causing sparks. The sparks can bee seen at minutes: 1:54, 2:07, 2:10, 2:57 and 3:01. We are asking anyone with any information on this incident or the AT&T fiber optic cable being cut to contact the Sheriff's Office at 408-808-4431 or email so.website@sheriff.sccgov.org. AT&T has offered a reward of $250,000 for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.