Copper Theft, It's Not Recycled
Jul 07, 2011
When I read the article below I automatically have to chuckle... these cities and utilities are spending a fortune on things like this. Think about it... the wire for the most part is not showing up in scrap yards. Dishonest electrical contractors are some of the problem... they simply reuse the wire on their next job and I would bet a million dollars that a good portion of the stolen copper is ending up in containers headed for China’s black market.
I’m just sayin!!!
Ga. Power fights copper theft with “fingerprinted” wire
Copper theft has reached epidemic levels for utilities across the country with $1 billion in annual losses, according to federal officials. Georgia Power, which suffered losses of $500,000 in 2010 to wire thieves, is fighting future thefts by switching to a new wire embedded with coding the company compares to a 'fingerprint,' reports Georgia Public Broadcasting.
The coding was developed to help verify where wiring originates. Until now, proving particular wire was from a particular location often proved difficult, according to Georgia Power