Richmond struggles to keep streetlights on as copper wire thefts surge
Zepeda urged the community to call 911 if they see someone stealing copper wire.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Richmond leaders are sounding the alarm on a surge in copper wire theft that has left neighborhoods in the dark and strained city resources.
Over the past three months, the city has seen an “extreme and unprecedented uptick” in criminal vandalism targeting electrical wiring across multiple parts of the city, Public Works Director Chavarria told residents and council members. The thefts have caused widespread streetlight outages, damaged infrastructure, and dramatically increased emergency repair demands, far beyond routine maintenance needs.
Chavarria noted that offenders are cutting power connections to streetlights and damaging conduits when unable to extract wiring, significantly raising both repair time and costs. City electrical crews are working around the clock, and emergency contracts have been activated to keep up with the workload, placing a considerable financial strain on the city’s operational budget.
Richmond City Councilmember Cesar Zepeda helped share the message from the director, urging residents to be vigilant and report suspicious activity around streetlight poles, pull boxes and other electrical infrastructure. In a video shining a light on the impacts of the thefts, Zepeda filmed from the site where new solar lights have been installed in the city.
“You’re going to start seeing more and more of them as we are replacing the lights that are out there now because people keep stealing copper wire,” Zepeda said, adding that solar lights offer nothing for metal thieves to steal.
Zepeda urged the community to call 911 if they see someone stealing copper wire.
“We still have a lot of lights left to go before we can replace all of them,” he said. “We’re just starting out. But our streets are being put in the dark because people keep stealing copper wire everywhere. We can’t replace it fast enough and it’s very costly.”
Courtesy: www.richmondstandard.com