Thief Steals Copper Wires From Power Substation

Someone broke into a power substation located in a rural area of and stole nearly $1,000 worth of metal wiring last week.

said a thief somehow got inside Duquesne Light’s sprawling power substation along Fort Pitt Road in the early hours of May 15 and took the bundles of copper and aluminum wiring.

Each of the metal wiring is worth about $450 a piece, Collier police said. Investigators are still trying to figure out how someone got into the secured substation that is used to lower power loads to deliver electricity to homes in the area.

Police are reviewing surveillance to see if they can identify who was behind the fenced perimeter and how they got inside.

Although the wiring was not connected to any power sources, some copper thieves in recent years have been injured or even killed while trying to cut metal from substations and power lines. It comes a year after police reported 100 feet of live electrical wire stolen from a Scott Township industry park and other metal taken from a power substation in Cranberry.

A Duquesne Light spokesman did not return messages seeking comment on the theft.

The Post-Gazette reported in November 2005 a similar copper theft at the Fort Pitt Road power substation.

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