Authorities hope new laws will decrease copper theft in region

PRINCETON — A month after new laws regarding utility theft went into effect, local law enforcement and utility companies are hoping to see a decrease in copper thefts across southern West Virginia.

A new law regarding metal theft went into effect in West Virginia on July 1, restricting and further penalizing those convicted stealing copper and other materials from utilities. Sgt. D.W. Miller with the West Virginia State Police Princeton detachment, said law enforcement is hoping the new law will make their job easier.

“We haven’t seen the effects of the new law yet, but we are hoping we will in the future,” Miller said. “The law has only been effect for a month, so we are hoping that when we get further down the road that will.”

Miller said the level of thefts reported to the State Police has remained steady in Mercer County.

“Recently, thefts have been at the average level,” Miller said. “We haven’t seen an increase in reported thefts at least. A lot of people use it to sell for pills, so there is usually steady stream of thefts. We do see an increase around the holidays as well. In a month, we get 10 to 12 calls about copper thefts in Mercer County. That isn’t counting what the city police and sheriff’s department handle.”

According to Miller, reports from the public are still one of law enforcement’s best tools in catching and prosecuting copper thieves.

“It takes someone seeing somebody, seeing a car and calling in with tips and following up with scrap yards,” Miller said. “Most scrap yards in our area are very helpful. Of course, they can get in trouble if the conceal they have bought stolen copper anyway.”

Phil Moye, a spokesperson for Appalachian Power, said copper theft remains prevalent in southern areas of West Virginia.

“It is still pretty prevalent, especially in southern and rural areas where people are less likely to be detected when they are stealing the copper,” Moye said. “In the area as a whole, it is still very commonplace. Thefts are about the same as last year. We easily lose more than $1 million worth of line each year, and it is literally miles and miles of line we lose each year. It certainly adds to our cost of doing business, though we have never had to have a rate adjustment due to copper theft. Of course theft in any business increases the cost of doing business.”

Since 2006, Moye said thefts have been on the increase.

“All across our service area in West Virginia and Virginia, copper thefts have been rising steadily since 2006,” he said. “Thefts typically rise when prices for copper go up. It is a fairly rampant activity since we started putting in copper wires in 2006. Any fluctuation is around the price of copper. We see a decrease as the prices go down.”

According to Moye, stealing copper can be a deadly practice, especially when electric lines are involved.

“Where electric lines are concerned this is one of the most dangerous things you can do,” Moye said. “You don’t know if the lines are energized or not and many people have died trying it. For people who know a family member or friend is doing that, you need to encourage them and talk with them about the risk they are taking. We had a gentleman in Boone County electrocuted this year. Every year there are fatalities related to copper theft. You have to stop them before its too late. We do have toll-free, confidential line people can call to report thefts and provide information about copper theft. There are rewards offered up to $5,000. The hotline number is 866-747-5845.”

Dan Page, communications manager with Frontier Communications, said the company has seen more thefts as they continue to expand across the state.

“We monitor thefts on a daily basis,” Page said. “Many people in the power industry have seen this for years. Frontier has been in the telephone business in West Virginia for years, and when we expanded in 2010, those problems expanded. The problem is bigger now for us because we have expanded our customer base and our geographic footprint in West Virginia.”

In addition to copper thefts, Page said Frontier was recently plagued by generator thefts during the June 29 and July 10 storms.

“Periodically, we do see some copper thefts still, but the most recent epidemic of thefts has involved generators because everyone felt they needed one,” Page said. “It created a lot of inconveniences for a lot of people when the stole ours and others. Both businesses and individuals lost generators because of that. The storm-related thefts most revolved generators because its critical we keep our lines energized when commercial power goes off. We have to have electricity or energy to carry our signal, so we need generators to keep central offices energized so we can keep service to our customers. You lose electricity so you lose coverage.”

However, Page said law enforcement has worked hand-in-hand with the company.

“We received a terrific amount of cooperation from law enforcement in the thefts of our generators,” he said. “Their commitment to responding to those thefts was very, very impressive. We are grateful to the law enforcement response we have seen not only in the generator thefts but to copper thefts as well.”

Page also has high hopes for the newly passed state law regarding metal thefts.

“This past spring the legislature passed a law intended to help enforce and prosecute people accused and convicted of stealing copper from utilities,” he said. “We are hopeful that will have a good effect on some of that. We hope that will help slow this problem down. There was a lot of feedback given on this law from companies dealing with these thefts as well as law enforcement. West Virginia law enforcement is very vigilant in detecting, apprehending and charging people involved in this criminal behavior.”

Reports from the public remain Frontier’s strongest defense against theft, Page said.

“We encourage people who see any suspicious activity around our generators or our lines to call 1-800-590-6605,” he said. “We will accept reports anonymously. We believe the public has become more aware of the problems associated with both copper and generator theft. This is an assault on the entire community. They steal, destroy property and destroy the ability for the community to communicate, which has a lot of risks associated with it.”

— Contact Kate Coil at

kcoil@bdtonline.com

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Authorities hope new laws will decrease copper theft in region

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