KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Power and Light officials say copper thieves struck 10 times at Missouri-side substations in January.
The thieves, risking death to take the copper, hit substations in Blue Springs, Lee’s Summit and Hickman Mills.
“Touching the wrong thing in a substation can kill you. Equipment that these thieves are tampering with may be energized at very high voltages, which may have deadly consequences,” Jeremy McNeive, KCP&L spokesman, said in a news release.
Officials say the copper isn’t worth much when the thieves try to sell it to scrap dealers. They also hope alert neighbors can help spot suspicious people near the substations.
KCP&L says there were 32 copper thefts in 2018.
