Marshall County Criminals Scrapping Utility Wire

Criminals in Marshall County are looking to make some quick money by scrapping wire from utility poles, but officials say their efforts are in vain – utility companies have been swapping out the old copper wiring for inexpensive copper-clad steel, which has no real scrap value.

Over the past several months, Marshall County REMC workers and their customers have noticed that the copper covered ground wire has been removed off a number of poles, which raises a number of concerns. The ground wire is a safety device to ensure that extra electricity will flow into the ground, rather than destroying electronics, causing fires, or harming those working on the power lines.

The ultimate goal in these copper thefts is for the scrap value in the wire and other electrical equipment, but the new copper-clad steel has no legitimate scrap value. However, while there’s no money to be made in scrapping these items, there is still a cost to replace the damaged equipment – but that’s not REMC’s main concern.

Marshall County REMC is concerned for the safety of their workers and customers, and encourages anyone who sees someone who is not an REMC employee tampering with a power line or other equipment to call 911 and report it, or call REMC.