A North Carolina power company said Wednesday it repaired the equipment that was damaged in an alleged attack that left a majority of Moore County without electricity over the last several days.
Why it matters: Around 45,000 homes and businesses in the county lost power on Saturday night as a result of what Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields described as a "targeted" attack involving gunfire on two electrical substations.
- Local and state police and the FBI are investigating the attack.
Driving the news: The power company, Duke Energy, said in a notice on its outage site Wednesday that all damaged equipment had been repaired but power could only be restored after testing is completed.
- "All substation equipment damaged from recent vandalism has either been fully repaired or replaced," the notice stated. "Once we have completed all necessary testing, the gradual restoration of service to those Moore County communities still without power will begin."
- "To avoid overwhelming the electrical system we will bring power back on gradually, with the goal of having the majority of customers restored before midnight tonight," it added.
What they're saying: Restoring power "is a methodical process that is done in waves of several thousand customers at a time to ensure that we are returning service reliably and not creating additional operational challenges," said Jeff Brooks, a Duke Energy spokesperson.
- The company said Tuesday it had restored service to about 10,000 customers in the county, but approximately 35,000 were still without power.
Go deeper: Moore County remains in the dark after "targeted" attack
