Utilities and Telecoms Turn to WA Lawmakers for Help as Copper Wire Theft Surges

Utilities and telecoms turn to WA lawmakers for help as copper wire theft surges

A public utility in Mason County has started labeling its power poles hoisting fiber-optic cables so thieves don’t mistake the lines for expensive copper wire. Read more...

Copper Wire Theft Surges in Washington State

OLYMPIA, WA – A public utility in Mason County has started labeling its power poles hoisting fiber-optic cables so thieves don’t mistake the lines for expensive copper wire. “This wire is steel core, not copper,” the notice reads. “It has no scrap value!” The public notice is a step Mason County’s Public Utility District No. 3 is taking to respond to the destruction of cables as wirecutters get increasingly brazen. In one case, a Thanksgiving Da…