Would you risk being hit by lightning for $100? Seems a bit
ludicrous, but desperate times cause folks to do foolish things.
Thefts of copper, bronze, aluminum, and bronze are on the rise,
at abandoned commercial buildings, empty homes, and—most
dangerously—at power substations near neighborhoods. We need
your help to keep our equipment safe, prevent outages, and save
lives. At an electric co-op in Oklahoma recently, metal thieves
took off with about $100 worth of wire in a substation, but left
behind a $1 million repair bill after a fire destroyed
regulators, switches, and a $600,000 transformer. More than
3,500 consumers were temporarily left in the dark after the
incident, although the co-op moved quickly to reroute power to
affected areas. It’s hard to understand why folks would put
their life on the line for a few dollars. Many law enforcement
officials believe that methamphetamine users are responsible for
much of the problem. And the damage done to our system packs a
big punch, since equipment can be r