Arrest reported after damage to a Las Vegas solar facility

What happened

On 12 January 2023, RTO Insider reported that a man arrested in Las Vegas the previous week for damaging a major solar facility had told police he had no regret. The report describes the Dry Lake Solar Plant, northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, as connecting to the local grid at the Harry Allen Power Station and providing nearly all of the daily power for MGM properties in Las Vegas. The headline says the act was a protest against old technology.

The available text does not state what was damaged, whether the plant stopped generating, or whether anyone was hurt. A subheading about wanting to destroy a car because of pollution is not clearly tied to the solar facility.

Contributing factors

The visible report describes intentional damage and a stated lack of regret. Motive and method are not set out in the text that could be read, so they are not treated as established.

Lessons learned

1. Solar plants should treat deliberate damage as a security risk and keep access control and detection under review.
2. After an intrusion, operators should confirm quickly what was damaged and whether generation or the grid connection was affected.
3. Public accounts should keep confirmed damage separate from unrelated claims until the facts are clear.

Source

rtoinsider.com