Public at risk from electrical thefts
Thieves have removed a piece of aluminium cable with very little scrap value from a transformer site in Tūrangi. Photo: Supplied
Theft of electrical equipment is putting lives at risk, and not just for those committing crimes, says The Lines Company.
The company operates the electricity network in southern and western parts of the Taupō District, King Country and Ruapehu and has reported nine cases of theft to police in the past six months.
TLC’s general manager Service Delivery Jared Murrell says the consequences can be severe and immediate.
Earlier this week a man was fatally electrocuted in Christchurch while trying to steal copper from a transformer.
Jared says the theft of network equipment is not victimless.
“Damage left behind can put our crews and the public at risk long after the thieves have gone. But the most serious consequence is that electricity can kill. Someone cutting into the wrong cable can be killed on the spot.”
He says the theft of earth connections is especially dangerous because it can create hazardous electrical conditions in connected homes.
“When earthing is compromised, appliances and metal surfaces that should be safe can become live, and electrical faults may not clear the way they are designed to. That increases the risk of electrical fires and electric shock to unsuspecting people in homes.”
Repeated vandalism and theft are influencing work programmes and customers affected by power outages.
“Our customers - people and businesses, prepare for planned outages. When our teams arrive on site and find cables or equipment stolen, we often can’t safely proceed.
“That means we have to reshuffle crews, rebook outages and, in some cases, delay other planned work.”
He says in one case, theft at a single site forced them to reschedule the initial job and six subsequent jobs because they couldn’t be done until the first job was finished.
“This domino flow-on effect caused disruption to 456 customers. It’s very frustrating for our teams when they get to site to do a job and find they can’t proceed and extremely frustrating for customers who prepare for a planned outage only to have the day change, on the day, because some of our equipment has been stolen.”
Two thefts at the same site in a single week left TLC facing significant duplicate labour and rework costs—far outweighing anything the stolen, electricity-sector-specific equipment could be sold for.
“That’s money we would much rather be investing into strengthening and upgrading the network to keep our customers connected.”
In the past six months, TLC has reported nine incidents of criminal activity to Police.
Most incidents are aluminium wire which has very little scrap value, and other equipment, from work sites, our depots and vehicles.
TLC is asking anyone who sees suspicious activity around power poles, open trenches, substations, cabling or work sites to report it to Police immediately.
They should also keep well clear of any downed lines or damaged equipment and always treat electrical equipment as live — do not touch it.