SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Federal agents today arrested a contract employee they said tampered with computers at the headquarters of the agency that controls California's electricity transmission.
Lonnie Charles Denison, 32, of Sacramento, faces a felony charge of destruction of an energy facility. The crime carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a five-thousand dollar fine. Denison is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in federal court.
The tampering -- coupled with a bomb threat at the agency's Folsom headquarters on Monday -- had drawn the attention of an F-B-I Joint Terrorism Task Force because of the potential impact on the state's power grid. The California Independent System Operator manages 25-thousand miles of electrical transmission lines and operates wholesale power markets.
According to F-B-I arrest affidavit, Denison used his security clearance to gain access to a data center at the facility late Sunday night.
Once inside, Denison used a hammer to break a glass plate covering an emergency power-off button.
By pressing the button, he cut power to the majority of the data center, preventing the agency from controlling computers used to buy and sell energy in real-time.
A spokeswoman for the Independent System Operator said neither the tampering nor the bomb threat -- which is still under investigation -- disrupted the agency's operations.
The agency, however, says it is reviewing energy prices and other data from during the incident to ensure their accuracy.
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