Copper thieves are striking again, leaving a trail of damaged infrastructure and higher costs for consumers. As the value of copper continues to rise, a growing number of opportunistic thieves are targeting essential public assets like phone poles, streetlights, and electric vehicle charging stations. The thefts may seem like a minor nuisance, but they have serious consequences, including extended power outages, traffic disruptions, and increased costs for utility companies and taxpayers. With copper prices skyrocketing, it's only a matter of time before these brazen crimes become more widespread, leaving communities to foot the bill for the damage.
The value of copper is rising, and thieves can make money by stripping it from phone poles, streetlights and EV chargers. But those thefts cost the rest of us.
