Aug. 28--A four-hour power outage in Eaton early Wednesday has been traced to the theft of 40,000 feet of copper wire from Xcel Energy power lines east of Eaton.

Mark Stutz, spokesman for Xcel in Denver, said the theft is just the latest in a string of such incidents since March in northern Weld County. The Weld County Sheriff's Office has been notified, he said, but the problem is the thefts have occurred in remote areas of the county, usually at night.

Wednesday's power outage hit about 1,950 customers in the Eaton area at about 3:25 a.m., and power was not restored to all those customers until 7:48 a.m., Stutz said.

The issue, Stutz said, not only involves the power outage which could lead to serious problems for customers, but is also a safety hazard for Xcel linemen tracing and repairing the damage and the danger to the thieves.

"Obviously, we're dealing with people who have at least some basic knowledge of electricity, but this is a good way to die," Stutz said. Copper, he added, is selling for $3-$4 per pound.

In the case of Wednesday's theft, Stutz said the copper neutral wire was removed from lines between Weld County roads 72 and 74 in the vicinity of Weld 79, about 20 miles east of Eaton. The theft had to involve more than one person, working with equipment capable of rolling up the copper wire, he added. He stressed that the theft probably involved more than one night, but early Wednesday is when the problem occurred that led to the power outage.

"There were three different spans of line involved. On the third attempt, they must of brushed against the primary line, so there were some sparks involved," Stutz said, adding that the third attempt was the one that knocked out power into Eaton.

There may have been some injuries involved in that incident, Stutz said.

A couple of years ago, a man was killed in northeast Aurora while he was stealing copper from an electrical facility, and Stutz said there have been incidents where melted keys and other melted items have been found in theft incidents, indicating injuries suffered by those stealing copper.

"It's just a dangerous situation for everyone involved. We need to catch these guys," Stutz said.

Report thefts

People observing possible copper thefts from power lines or other electrical facilities are urged to report those incidents to (800) 895-4999 or by calling 911 or the Weld County Sheriff's Office, (970) 356-4015, Ext. 2825.

-----

To see more of the Greeley Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.greeleytribune.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:XEL,