Officials warn copper thieves on risks

BANGOR - More than 25 copper thefts have been reported this year to the Maine Public Utilities Commission, which warns that such activity is not only illegal but also very dangerous.

Copper thieves are putting their lives "at extreme risk," said Kurt Adams, the commission's chairman, who planned to reiterate a warning during a press conference yesterday at a substation in Westbrook owned by Central Maine Power Co.

"We've had enough close calls to make us anxious," said Adams. "There are few places that are more dangerous to be in without experience than a substation."

The losses from thefts reported this year to the Public Utilities Commission add up to at least $32,000, including associated labor costs for repairs. While most copper wire thefts occur at power substations, copper piping has also been stolen from abandoned homes and buildings.

Dozens of arrests have been made around the state, the commission says. Copper thefts have resulted in deaths in other states, as well as the neighboring Canadian province of New Brunswick, where a man was electrocuted in May after he broke into a substation and tried to cut a heavy-gauge copper ground wire.

Perimeter fencing can become electrified at power company sites, but there's no way for people to tell if that is the case, warned Susan Faloon, spokeswoman for Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. A break-in at a power plant last spring cost the utility an estimated $500,000 in labor and material replacement costs.

Thieves can sell the copper for between $3 and $4 per pound, sometimes in the form of grounding equipment or entire reels of the metal.