Copper wiring stolen from Maritime Electric substation

Maritime Electric is investigating the theft of copper wire from its substation on the UPEI campus.

The theft occurred between March 14 and April 4. Maritime Electric and Charlottetown Police Services are asking the public for information about it.

“We’re actually doing an investigation now in terms of the extent of damage inside the substation,” Kim Griffin, spokesperson with the utility, told SaltWire on April 5. “I definitely know that they broke in. We're not sure of the exact date timeframe.”

It is a big concern for Maritime Electric, which has been the victim of copper wire theft five times over the past year. Not only is it expensive equipment but the risk to a person or persons stealing it is extremely high.

“It’s a huge, huge concern, and at this point we are asking the public if they’ve seen anything in the area to let police know.”

Maritime Electric also issued an alert to all employees because damage to equipment in a substation can put employees and contractors at risk. Employees going into a substation always perform a visual inspection first.

“We have to be completely vigilant, and sometimes it’s not always obvious. For the person or the people who break into the substation, they can be electrocuted. There have been examples of this in past cases. I know in the region there has been one fatality. Our employees and contractors could also be hurt. There have been times when it has caused outages when substation equipment is damaged, so there is a domino effect.”

Griffin added that people will often steal copper wiring and have it melted down for $50 or $100 in cash.

Anyone who has information is asked to call Charlottetown police at 902-629-4172 or P.E.I. Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).