A white supremacist is accused of trying to destroy a power substation in Tennessee in an effort 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 fly it into the Nashville energy facility as part of his extremist agenda, authorities said.

Philippi is accused of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy an energy facility. He appeared in court on Monday and is scheduled to appear again on November 13. He remains in detention and faces life imprisonment.

In messages to FBI sources, Philippi espoused accelerationist Authorities say this popular theory among far-right extremists relies on major shocks causing chaos and forcing society to change its racial makeup, resulting in an all-white state.

The theory was popularized by manifestos left by the perpetrators of a number of high-profile neo-Nazi and white supremacist terrorist incidents, including the murder of 51 people in 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 decided later in the year that that wouldn’t be enough.

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

In September, Philippi showed an undercover agent excerpts from his manifesto, which declared that “radical armed struggle is the only way out to protect and preserve our people.”

“As today’s charges allege, 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,” Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

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

Philippi went to an electrical substation, accompanied by undercover FBI agents, to conduct reconnaissance, the bureau said. While driving, he ordered C-4 explosives from undercover agents and later purchased black powder for use in pipe bombs.

He spoke of the need to cover his tracks by using disguises, leather gloves and ill-fitting shoes, the FBI said.

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

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

An affinity for pagan folklore is also common in far-right extremism, in part because of Adolf Hitler’s interest in Norse mythology: the criminal complaint against Philippi says he wore a homemade shirt emblazoned with the message “Death to Odin”.

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

NBC News contacted the public defender assigned to represent Philippi.

Michael Kosnar contributed to this story.

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