News

Metal Theft

The issue has become an increasingly serious one for the energy networks over the past few years. We are working with the Government, the Police (through the Association of Chief Police Officers) as well as other affected industries to ensure this issue is at the top of the policy agenda.

The cost to the public

In 2010 figures indicated the cost to our industry was approximately £11.7 million. By October 2011 this had increased to £60 million. These costs are directly passed on to customers in their electricity bills.
In addition, so far this year there have been approximately 750 cases that have lead to loss of supply to at least 25,500 homes of which over 2,500 cases involved damage to customer’s TVs, computers and boilers as well as causing fires as a result of the outage. To give an idea of the level of cost for each customer that can be as much as £10,000, and in some cases considerably more. The impact on businesses can also be calculated in the tens of thousands.

People die or are seriously injured

There have been at least six deaths over the last year or so and at least 50 injuries including those to staff and members of the public.
The latest death was in July 2011 where a 16-year-old was killed when he tried to steal copper from an electrical substation in Leeds. His body was found by a routine security patrol, which had been stepped up as a result of a spate of incidents in the region. Police apprehended three other youths for questioning. This is not a nice way to die and staff and the public can be traumatised by seeing or having to deal with the aftermath.
In November 2011 thieves climbed an 80ft pylon in Frampton-On-Severn and cut the wires taking down approx 9km of overhead cable. A potentially live wire was left draped across Frampton Youth Football Club's pitches. Each power line can carry 33kv.
A man in Derbyshire who was left fighting for his life after attempting to steal copper from an electrical substation said he hoped his horrific injuries would deter others from the crime. He had part of his skull removed and suffered 40% burns after being electrocuted by 33,000 volts at a substation. He was taken to intensive care where he was in a coma.

The impact on energy security

The problem has now escalated to proportions that could see whole regions blacked out for hours. Only recently for the first time our National Grid suffered a major theft. The earth wire of a 275kv overhead power line was stolen.
The anti-climbing guard was cut and the pylon was climbed in broad day light, the earth wire was also dismantled, which fell to ground and was then cut up. The earth wire is at the very top of these tall pylons. It could have fallen onto the live wires below, which could potentially have jeopardised the supply to more than 100,000 people. If it had been a 400kv line then this figure could have risen up to 500,000.
A taste of what can happen when a large area is cut off due to what was generally suspected as an attempted metal theft, though could never be proved due to fire damage came 2 years ago in Dartford. It resulted in 94,000 customers losing supply, with almost 20,000 customers being off supply for more than 24 hours. It affected four major electricity circuits, affecting homes, businesses, petrol stations, and Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford. The criminals were unsuccessful in obtaining any metals due to the intensity of the resulting fire. After looking at all the evidence, Ofgem concluded that this was an exceptional event.
The costs associated with the recovery of supplies were not only that of the physical reinstatement but also included initial goodwill payments given to customers and another £700,000 distributed to more than 12,000 of the worst-affected customers. Also, a community fund of £750,000 was set up to support local causes to benefit residents.

The problem is also destroying people’s homes

In July 2011 in Castleford, thieves cut the neutral cable of an overhead power line, which caused the supply to six nearby terraces to become live. This caused a spark from an electric appliance that burnt through the gas pipe for the cooker. This in turn caused a leak, which then ignited. Luckily no one was killed but six homes will have to be demolished.

Not just a threat to electricity infrastructure

It is not just electricity infrastructure that is attacked but gas pipes and equipment as well. This has caused explosions in private homes and has nearly caused carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
Only recently two men broke into a derelict property in Hartlepool to steal copper from a gas boiler. During the attempted theft they caused a gas leak and a fire that lead to a huge explosion that blew a hole in the roof of the end-terrace property and shards of glass left a bystander with cuts to her face.
The incident required over 100 people to be evacuated from their homes and 150ft cordon to be set up for 4 hours whilst gas engineers secured the scene and structural integrity of surrounding buildings was examined. Thankfully, so far no one has been seriously injured but again the fear is that this could happen anytime.
Innocent lives are being put at risk. Last year a chimney flue was stolen in Hull, which led to a gas leak in the home of a 64-year-old grandmother. When she realised the flue had been stolen she turned off her boiler to avoid CO poisoning. Had a neighbour not pointed out the stolen flue, this incident could have easily resulted in her and her grandson being killed.
In Edinburgh a man who stole pipes from a flat two floors below him almost blew up the building after causing a gas leak. The quick actions of police officers, investigating the strong smell of gas in the common stair of a block of flats, prevented what could have been a catastrophic explosion.

The value of the metal stolen often small

A large proportion of these thefts are small scale and low value yet high impact. We are talking about thefts that amount to no more than a few hundred pounds. Yet the cost to industry and the impact on the public is potentially huge.
A recent theft in Yorkshire cost local residents and insurers over half a million pounds in broken electrical equipment and boilers as a result of a theft of £40 of copper. Beyond this, the huge cost of repairing and replacing stolen equipment, the security required, and the cost in workers time, must all be met by the bill payer.
Last year the theft of a £5 brass valve from an oil filled transformer resulted in 30,000 litres of oil leaking out. Luckily this was contained within the site but if it hadn't have been could have caused road accidents and damaged the local environment.
In March 2011 two men were sentenced for 20 months for theft of metal from two substations in Kent that caused £125,000 of damage for copper that was estimated at less than £100 in value.

Action needed now before it is too late

People are dying, staff are being injured, the public are being exposed to danger and we face daily impacts on our energy infrastructure that could jeopardise our vital energy supplies. At its worst this could impact on a region of half a million people. This would have a fundamental affect on our economy, our vital services, hospitals, and schools.
The clock is ticking and the odds are decreasing that an innocent person will be killed or a region goes dark by this illegal activity.
At the beginning of September 2011 Labour Whip and MP for Hyndburn, Graham Jones, led a debate on the impact of metal theft on the electricity industry. He called on the Government to act before it was too late. The debate showed the seriousness that MPs apply to this issue.
We are working with the Government to get the changes we need to the scrap metal dealers’ legislation. Across Europe and the majority of States in the US legislation now exists that creates a cashless scrap metal industry model and that has proper and rigorous licensing regime. In fact, in Belgium when the legislation was introduced in 2010 metal theft went dramatically down only to go up again when the legislation was temporarily suspended. Needless to say it was quickly reinstated and yes the thefts went down again.
The momentum has now built up to a point where Government will now act. Meanwhile, we are keeping the pressure up with a wide ranging media campaign and engagement on the issue including work with the Mayor of London, Local Government Association, and reputable scrap metal dealers who want to see change.