After attacks plunged Moore County into darkness, highly secure power station planned

CARTHAGE, N.C. (WNCN) — Duke Energy plans to build a third power substation in Moore County following power grid attacks 15 months ago that left thousands in the dark.

This highly secured substation would give Duke Energy additional redundancy to reroute power during a disruption or outage.

In December 2022, attackers fired guns damaging Duke Energy existing substations in Moore County. The attacks left 45,000 customers in the dark for days. No one was ever arrested.

“We’ve learned a lot from the events that occurred in Moore County. Certainly, been taking a very active approach and evaluating our entire system,” said Jeff Brooks with Duke Energy.

Suspect still at large one year after Moore County substation attack

Brooks said the substation will allow Duke to quickly restore power to customers not only during attacks, but also when inclement weather hits.

In Moore County, there aren’t alternative pathways to rerouting power if both substations are down. It’s a common occurrence in rural communities due to limited utility infrastructure, Brooks said.

“Bigger urban areas you often have more energy pathways to reroute power if you lost a substation or maybe if you had a tree on the line,” Brooks said.

The new substation would have the potential to become a main power source as Moore County continues to see growth.

“Water sewer, power, road, all the basic infrastructure and utilities that go into supporting all of these things and supporting cities, in general, you have to start growing those things as well,” said Emily Yopp, Carthage town manager.

Currently, Duke Energy is going through the rezoning approval process since the planned location along U.S. 15/501 is a residential area. A public hearing is scheduled for Monday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m. inside Carthage Townhall.

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