Copper Theft Continues to Impact Coops
Posted on Mar 4, 2013 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Regulation & Policy, Technology | Comments Off on Copper Theft Continues to Impact Coops
Ongoing international demand for copper could result in another rise in copper prices, followed by a rise in copper theft, according to Maurice Martin, a program manager at NRECA’s Cooperative Research Network. Coops like Missouri-based N.W. Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. have tried multiple ways to thwart copper theft. For example, Northwest long ago switched to tin-coated copper. The coop is now moving to copper-clad products and is putting up signs in substations alerting would-be thieves that the material has no scrap value. In addition, 48 states have metal theft laws. To read more on the tactics to reduce copper theft, click here.
