MOORE COUNTY, N.C. — Sunday marks one year since two Duke Energy electrical substations were attacked in Moore County.
Nearly 45 thousand people were without power for five days and an 87-year-old woman died because of the outage.
Karin Zoanelli had chronic lung disease and without power, wasn't able to use her oxygen machine.
The FBI and Moore County Sheriff's Office are asking people to be on the lookout for a white minivan, they believe may know more about who was involved in the attack.
On December 3rd, 2022, multiple shots were fired at two Duke Energy electrical substations about 10 miles apart in Moore County.
Since that day, Duke Energy said they have been enhancing security, and learning from this incident.
Duke Energy spokesperson, Jeff Brooks said, "Really, since the time that the substation attacks occurred even as we were responding to those we were already beginning to gather information about the event. Lessons learned that we can apply to strengthen our existing multi-layered security strategy."
Brooks said more than 500 million dollars of improvements are planned over the next 4 years to increase security across the system.
Duke Energy also established a dedicated team that's traveling around the region, looking for ways to improve security, and the process of brining essential equipment in when needed.
"These are big pieces of equipment. These aren’t things that just sit on the shelf, so making sure that we have the right supply line so we can get essential equipment moved regionally wherever we need it," Brooks said.
When the substation attack in Moore County happened, Brooks said additional security measures were added along with additional monitoring capabilities.
The investigation into who is responsible is ongoing.
The Moore County Sheriffs Office said they've pursued hundreds of leads.
Sheriff Ronnie Fields said partially in a statement, "We have scoured local businesses and residential areas and have conducted hundreds of interviews in search of any information associated with the attacks. Although it is not prudent to share all the details of this case, we are working diligently to hold those responsible accountable for their actions and see justice served for our communities."
The reward for information on who committed this attack is $100,000.
