A white supremacist is accused of trying to destroy a Tennessee electricity substation in an attempt to bring down the regional power grid and disrupt American society, authorities said Monday.

Skyler Philippi, 24, of Columbia, Tennessee, was arrested after a FBI investigation discovered he planned to attach a bomb to a drone and drop it on the Nashville energy facility as part of his extremist agenda, authorities said.

Philippi is charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of an energy facility. He appeared in court on Monday and is due to appear again on November 13. He remains in custody and faces a possible life sentence.

In messages to FBI sources, Philippi embraced himself accelerationist views, a theory popular among far-right extremists that relies on large shocks causing chaos and forcing society to change its racial makeup, resulting in an all-white state, authorities said.

The theory has been popularized by manifestos left by perpetrators in a number of high-profile neo-Nazi and white supremacist terrorist incidents, including the killing of 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019.

The suspect reportedly told a confidential FBI source in June that he wanted to carry out a mass shooting at a YMCA facility in Columbia, south of Nashville, but later in the year decided that wouldn’t be enough to pull off.

“If you want to do the most damage as an accelerationist, attack the big, high-tax, political economic zones in every major metropolis,” Philippi wrote, according to court documents released Monday.

In September, Philippi showed an undercover agent portions of his manifesto, which stated that “radical armed struggle is the sole purpose for the protection and preservation of our people.”

“As alleged in today’s charges, Skyler Philippi, a man dedicated to the ideology of white supremacy and the destruction of our critical infrastructure, planned to attack Nashville’s power grid using a drone carrying an explosive device,” said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a statement.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the suspect was “driven by a violent, racially motivated extremist ideology” and that his actions would have left thousands without power, including hospitals.

Philippi drove to an electrical substation with undercover FBI agents to conduct reconnaissance, the bureau said. While driving, he ordered C-4 explosives from undercover agents, and at a later date purchased black powder intended for use in pipe bombs.

He talked about the need to cover his tracks by using disguises, leather gloves and inappropriate shoes, the FBI said.

Philippi was arrested on November 2 by undercover agents acting as co-conspirators who had agreed to be guards. At the time of his arrest, the drone was powered and the explosive device armed, the FBI said.

Earlier that day, Philippi took part in a Norse ritual that paid homage to the Norse god, Odin, and told the undercover agents “this is where the New Age begins” and that it was time for “something big” to be remembered in “the annals of history.”

An affinity for pagan folklore is also common in far-right extremism, partly because of Adolf Hitler’s interest in Norse mythology — the criminal complaint against Philippi says he wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the message “Death to Odin.”

A federal district court judge will set any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

NBC News has reached out to the public defender appointed to represent Philippi.

Michael Kosnar contributed to this story.

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