Another power station attack

Will the United States descend into civil unrest?

This is a futures topic I’ve been tracking for years. There’s a lot of data from multiple domains to follow, with various trends and stories emerging. Today I want to update on one of those trends.

Two weeks ago I wrote about a spate of incidents in several states, where still unknown parties shot at electrical power stations, damaging local grids. As far as I can tell the attackers’ technique was to bypass security by shooting at facilities from a distance. Nobody has claimed responsibility. It is unclear if these attacks were the coordinated actions of a single entity, several competing strikes, some kind of DIY copycat acts, or a mix of these. Again, as far as I can tell no suspects are in custody nor has a credible theory of the case appeared.

Today another attack has taken place. Or rather, four such attacks in a small area. Once again Washington state is the setting. Four electrical substations belonging to two different utilities were victims. However, the modus operandi was different. It doesn’t look like rifles were the tools this time. USA Today described the quartet of incidents as “burglaries”:

Deputies saw forced entry into the fenced-in area at all four substations, with equipment vandalized but “nothing had been taken” from the substations, the department said.

In addition, “Authorities have not said what type of vandalism was involved but a fire was reported at one of the substations belonging…