A Rocky Mountain Power Substation in West Jordan was vandalized around 7 am Thursday morning. Nearly 6,000 people were without electricity for 2 hours.
Paul Murphy is a power company spokesman. He says the thief took a huge risk for the cash that might come from selling the copper cable.
“The substations have 138,000 volts going into the station and 12,500 volts coming out so anytime you touch something with that amount of power,” says Murphy, “you’re going to be killed.”
Murphy says the theft is being investigated by West Jordan Police Department.
“One thing I would ask for the public, if you see anyone suspicious near a substation, to report it to the local law enforcement agencies so this doesn’t happen again.” Murphy says, “I mean it could have been a very serious situation and it was a serious situation for the 6,000 people who were affected by the power outage.”
West Jordan Police Sgt. Dan Roberts says copper has become quite a popular target for theft locally and nationally. He says law enforcement continues to develop better ways of tracking stolen copper even as crooks figure out ways to hide the fact that their copper is stolen. Copper can sell for up to $2.05 per pound at a local scrap metal recycling company.
