A crisis is brewing over on the East Coast, as many North Carolina residents have lost power after a string of attacks on power substations. The attacks appear to be targeted, as another attack happened late Wednesday at an energy facility in South Carolina, signifying what could be a new domestic terrorist movement.

    It started on Saturday, December 3, when an attack in Moore County, North Carolina, took out power for several thousand North Carolina residents. While no definite suspects or motives for the attack have been found, investigators have a few leads. These leads mainly concern some anti-LGBT+ extremists disrupting events nationwide, as well as some extremists discussing attacking infrastructure online. This is further supported by the fact the power went out around the same time a drag event was meant to take place in the area. While the investigators have no hard evidence supporting this, they are taking the context into consideration sources told CNN. 

    The situation escalated around 5:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, December 7, when a shooter opened fire from a truck on a Duke Energy facility in Ridgeway, South Carolina, before speeding away. No people were injured, but the number of people in the truck during the attack remains unknown. According to a statement to CBS News, “Duke Energy said it is working “closely” with the FBI to investigate the issue.” Whether or not this disturbance was directly connected to the allegedly deliberate shootings in Moore County remains to be seen.

     The entire situation is both unnerving and concerning moving into the winter season, a time when energy becomes even more important than normal. Along with the attacks in the Carolinas, there were also at least five attacks made to power stations in Washington and Oregon throughout the month of November, furthering the urgency of the issue.