Copper theft epidemic could cost Puget Sound Energy millions

Copper thieves have gotten bolder, stealing copper from abandoned houses, telephone poles, electrical substations, and even transformers.

According to Puget Sound Energy (PSE) spokeswoman Martha Monfried, copper thefts have been on the rise over the past few years. This week alone there were 14 break-ins, nine of which were in King County. In contrast, PSE reported only sixty substation burglaries for all of 2010.

Most recently, Monfried says thieves stole thirty feet of copper wire from a Maple Valley location.

“It’s really a copper theft epidemic, whether it’s a sign of the economy or drugs, and the ability to sell this stuff,” Monfried says.

A sign of the times, the increase in the price of copper is also a factor in the rising number of thefts. Since 2009, the market price has gone from about $1.50 per pound to about $4.50 per pound.

Though there are laws that try to prohibit the sale of stolen metals, they are difficult to enforce. Typically, buyers are required to certify that that copper sellers are legitimate by examining their business licenses, but many buyers settle for a business card – or a discount.

With the increase in metal theft, thieves have also started stealing manhole covers and storm drain grates – about twenty have been reported stolen in Olympia in the last month. City officials say the manhole covers can fetch almost $200.

Both Olympia city officials and regional utility employees say their number one concern is public safety; people who steal manhole covers endanger others who might trip and fall, while copper thieves risk life-threatening electrical shocks.

This week, an Enumclaw woman and her accomplice were trying to remove copper wiring from a PSE substation when the woman was electrocuted by an energized circuit.

Monfried says the woman was lucky. Last year 29 people died in the U.S. while breaking into electrical substations.

“We really wish we could spend more time and effort upgrading our system where it needs repairs and maintaining it instead of responding to all these incidents,” she says.

Monfried estimates that, this year alone, PSE will spend millions of dollars to repair substations and transformers damaged by thieves.

By Jillian Raftery, MyNorthwest.com intern