Electric sabotage? Not!

The alleged vandalism/sabotage of two electrical towers in Ivy– serious enough to warrant an FBI investigation– turned out to be neither. Dominion Virginia Power now says it was all a case of miscommunication.

According to company spokesperson Karl Neddenien, a contract maintenance crew was performing a routine bolt replacement procedure when they ran out of materials. The crew left the work site in a safe condition for a two-week period to have new steel bolts fabricated.


Exactly one week passed before the communication error was discovered. The FBI and police investigations were halted earlier today, according to Albemarle County police detective Phil Giles.

Neddenien calls the miscommunication a "mistake," and adds that he regrets that the company error caused "some consternation in the neighborhood" which he would like to see "corrected soon."


The high voltage transmission towers are part of an interconnected grid system of over 6,000 miles of transmission lines that transport power across Virginia, according to company spokesperson David Botkins.


Good thing Giles hadn't developed any suspects and made an arrest. Because once an arrest was made I doubt the truth would ever have been exposed by Dominion, and an innocent person would be sitting in juvenile detention or jail.

Sick, it would be interesting to see just how long it would have taken for the innocent to be released and count the expenses.

Sounds like low-tech can easily solve this problem. Aren't these the guys that want to expand the number of nuclear reactors 30 minutes from?

If it were to play out like the last innocent rape suspect the Charlottesville Police misfits arrested, they would keep the person in custody without bond while they run his/her DNA and try to match him/her to other crimes. :)

Wow, I must admit that I am in shock. Dominion Power should have a lot of explaining to do. If their statement is correct, why was high power line support poles allowed to be compromised in a residential neighborhood without proper support? I am frankly more concerned with the fact that that Dominion Power left the poles in this state rather than some kids removing a few bolts. This is bad and the affected neighborhood should be raising some hell with Dominion Power and the State Corporation Commission.