Theft of copper wire in United Illuminating’s overhead power lines spiked in the past few months, the Southwest Connecticut electrical company reported today.
Since November, United Illuminating reported 17 incidents of theft from its primary neutral lines in towns such as Easton, Fairfield, Bridgeport and Orange. Similar incidents involving copper theft rose across the country as the price of copper has increased.
Before November, United Illuminating never had an incident of theft from its power lines.
The company warned today that tampering with overhead wires or other equipment on its electrical system is a criminal and poses a significant risk of death or injury.
United Illuminating encourages anyone seeing tampering of the electrical system to call the police and then the company’s service emergency line at 800-722-5584.
