EVERETT — Stealing copper from the Snohomish County PUD has become more of a high-risk, low-reward proposition, leading to a steep drop in scrap metal thefts.
Besides the ever-present possibility of electrocution, there’s a greater chance of coming face-to-face with someone patrolling the county’s substations. Surveillance cameras also are part of the beefed-up security measures.
The increased security at substations and the operations center follows more rigorous federal requirements set by energy regulators in charge of ensuring reliability of the nation’s electrical grid.
Metal thieves might be noticing some of the changes.
So far this year, there have been seven thefts from PUD substations, causing about $11,000 in damage.
In 2015, there were 11 thefts.
Two years ago, that number was 31, and the PUD spent about $120,000 fixing the damage left by copper thieves.
“The damage they do to get access is much greater than the value of what they are stealing,” said Neil Neroutsos, a Snohomish County PUD spokesman.
A case in point: In 2013 the damage was estimated at $117,000, while the value of the metal taken was less than $1,000.
There also are costs associated with power outages.
Last year, for instance, a July metal theft netted thieves about $200 in copper wire while leaving 8,400 PUD customers in Everett without power.
Public utilities are one of many targets of scrap metal thieves. Nationally, scrap metal theft costs about $1 billion annually in materials and repairs, according to one study.
Like many utilities across the country, the PUD has been replacing its solid copper wire with a copper-steel wire. It is basically steel wrapped around copper, which makes it of no value to a metal recycler since the metals can’t easily be separated.
“We are switching that out as we do our regular maintenance,” Neroutsos said.
At the same time, stronger wire mesh fencing is being installed at PUD substations. Roughly half of the more than 80 substations have the new fencing. Crews are replacing the old fencing at a rate of about two substations per month.
Eventually, all PUD substations will have the tougher-to-snip fencing and surveillance cameras.
“The incentive to do it is less and less,” Neroutsos said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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