North Carolina deputies and FBI have 'active warrants' for power station attack suspects

The FBI and sheriff's deputies now have 'active warrants' out over a power station gun attack that left 45,000 without power.

Moore County Sheriff's Office are looking to find a suspect or suspects in connection to Saturday's attack - which left 45,000 people in North Carolina without power.

The FBI has secured an order to obtain cell phone records in a bid to identify people who were near the two substations which were attacked, reports WRAL. 

Both the bureau and sheriff's office said: 'This is an absolute, complete joint investigation.' 

Power stations in a number of US states have been threatened or targeted for attacks in recent weeks, prompting American law enforcement to warn citizens about a need to secure the power grid

Duke Energy workers repair a crippled electrical substation that they said was hit by gunfire after the Moore County Sheriff said that vandalism caused a mass power outage

A Duke Energy employee works to repair the damage at the Moore County substation in North Carolina 

No identities for possible suspects have been given, and no motives have been shared.

It was initially claimed online that the attack may have been to prevent a local drag queen story hour from taking place, but no evidence has emerged to support that claim.

An LGBTQ nonprofit in North Carolina had set up a drag show at the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines on Saturday night around the same time when the electric facilities were targeted with gunfire around 7pm. 

The incident led to officials declaring a state of emergency as about 32,000 southeastern residents were left without power until Thursday. 

Organizers of the drag show revealed that right-wing activists had tried to shut down the event for weeks leading up to it. In response to the threats, extra security was hired for the Saturday event. 

The number of rounds fired at the two electrical facilities hasn't been clarified. No arrests have been made. 

The two damaged stations are located about 20 minutes apart of each other in West End and Carthage. 

The outage came as a drag show was underway at the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines

The drag show at the Sunrise Theater was cut short around 8.30pm after show throwers realized the power wouldn't come back on. 

In total, at least seven attacks have been recorded in the US in recent weeks.

Two of the recent attacks occurred in Portland - targeting their electrical substations in a 'pre-meditated' ambush, officials said.

Officials in Oregon are still probing the Thanksgiving electrical attacks at Portland General Electric and Bonneville Power Administration in Clackamas County. 

About 106 attacks on the electrical grid in the US have been reported from January to August of this year - and there have been close to 600 since 2014, according to NBC.   

As attacks across the country have been on the rise, the Department of Homeland Security has also warned about the threats to the US electric infrastructure.

As well as North Carolina and Oregon, there were ambushes to electrical infrastructures in Washington state in November. 

Puget Sound Energy and two Cowlitz County Public Utility District substations were vandalized. 

Gerald Tracy, the media engagement program manager at Puget Sound Energy said that he was unable to 'comment on the incidents because they are both an ongoing investigation involving the FBI.'

On Wednesday night, Duke Energy reported that it had been made aware of yet more gunshots that occurred near the Wateree Hydro Station in Kershaw County, South Carolina.

'No individuals were harmed. There are no outages reported. There is no known property damage at this time. We are working closely with the FBI on this issue,' read the statement in part.

The US Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis warned early this year that domestic extremists 'have developed credible, specific plans to attack electricity infrastructure since at least 2020.'

Though experts warn that it would be difficult to shut down a significant portion of the power grid, a the recent attack in North Carolina showcased how tough it can be for a community to make do without power for the better part of a week.

Energy experts have expressed the real need to secure the country's power grid, especially as domestic terrorist's become further emboldened to toy with the country's public utilities.