With the region facing challenging economic times and the value of recycled copper rising, copper theft at Springfield, Mo.’s unmanned electricity substations was starting to rise at an alarming rate. In just the first two months last year, City Utilities (CU) recorded 17 incidents of copper theft from its power substations. It was obvious that the seven-foot chain link fences topped with strands of barbed wire and the random patrols by CU’s contract security service were hard pressed to deter losses.
Such a threat is common among many critical infrastructure sites.