Dive Brief:

• A federal grand jury has indicted an Arkansas man for trying to take down the power grid in central Arkansas by sabotaging power lines and a power station.
• The charges include a terrorist attack against a railroad carrier and destroying a 115-kV power line. When Jason Woodring, 37, dismantled a power line support tower, a power line fell on a railroad track and was later hit by a train, which caused the power to be cut to about 10,000 First Electric Cooperative customers, according to the charges.
• Woodring faces life in prison following an investigation led by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Dive Insight:

In 2012, the National Academy of Sciences released a previously classified report that found that the grid is vulnerable to terrorism. The report was drafted for the Department of Homeland Security in 2007 and kept secret for five years.