I wonder if they know that PCB oil will leak out of a shot transformer and sink into the ground…
(Older transformers still have PCBs)
I doubt they think that far ahead. Disrupting the grid isn't that difficult. But it is a stupid thing to do. Anyone caught should be charged with murder/attempted murder. Some people depend on electricity for their livelihood if not their in home medical supplies for their life. It's that serious but the way our country is shaping up, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the entire grid went down one day. That would be a disaster for which we are not prepared.
I used to wind the high voltage parts of those transformers at H.K. Porter in Lynchburg, VA.