Crime
TVA Seeks Help Fighting Copper Theft
Just like at so many electric cooperatives, copper theft is hitting the Tennessee Valley Authority hard. So TVA is asking the people it serves to be on the lookout.
A contract employee pleaded guilty to stealing copper from a substation at TVA’s Wheeler Dam. (Photo By: TVA)
TVA officers are fanning out around substations and other sites, asking nearby residents to keep watch on the properties and report any suspicious activity.
“We have received tips and information from neighbors that have already helped us recover stolen items and solve cases,” said David Jolley, vice president of TVA Police and Physical Security.
While TVA has security measures in place, Jolley noted that “we can’t be everywhere.” Metal theft figures bear that out.
“We’ve had approximately 70 thefts of copper and other metals from TVA property in calendar year 2011,” Scott Brooks, a TVA spokesman, told ECT.coop. Thefts occurred in each of the seven states TVA serves.
TVA estimated its 2011 losses at more than $90,000. “It’s likely higher than that because some of the cases don’t have a dollar value of the losses listed,” Brooks said.
On Dec. 12, an electrician working for a TVA contractor was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to make $17,800 restitution after pleading guilty to stealing copper from a TVA substation at Alabama’s Wheeler Dam in August 2010.
The Times Daily of Florence, Ala., quoted court records as saying Ricky Allen Purser, 53, admitted taking “a little bit of copper from work,” later telling authorities he needed the money to make ends meet.
Tags: Copper Theft, Crime