By Wayne Price

    Metal theft—the crime that endangers lives and can result in thousands of dollars in damages ultimately paid for by you—continues to plague electric utilities all over America.
    Copper wire is appealing to thieves who look to sell it for scrap. Burglars often climb power poles, scale fences, and break into buildings to steal the precious metal—almost always endangering themselves and others in the process. Scrap copper prices were $3.85 per pound on April 26, 2023.
    Thieves are willing to go to almost any length to steal metal, especially copper. They have stripped sheets of metal from building rooftops, stolen memorial decorations from cemeteries, ripped apart air conditioners for the copper coils within, and stripped homes and buildings of wiring and piping. Construction sites are frequent victims because metal is often left on-site unguarded and relatively unsecured.  
    Farm equipment such as irrigation pipes and fixtures are also targeted. The thieves can endanger the safety of themselves and those in the surrounding community, and weaken the infrastructure vital to our everyday lives. Unoccupied buildings have exploded due to gas lines being stolen. Stretches of highway have been left dark and tornado warning sirens have been rendered inoperable due to wiring being stolen.  
    Thieves have removed wiring from traffic and railway signals and even posed as utility workers in order to remove large sections of utility cable from the sewers beneath city streets. Electrical substations are frequently targeted and some thieves have been electrocuted trying to steal live electrical wiring.
    Some public power districts and electric cooperatives stamp copper and aluminum wire with an ID number to deter theft. Stolen wire is commonly brought to recycling centers and traded for cash. Although many state laws require recycling centers to keep records of transactions, enforcement can be difficult. Without identifying marks, stolen wire is hard to track and rarely recovered.
    Please help us prevent these thefts. If you notice anything unusual, call your local electric utility immediately. If you see anyone other than electric utility personnel around substations or other electric facilities, call the police.