Simple ways to combat theft in your substation

For many years equipment and copper theft in and around utility substations have been the primary issue for Power distribution owner/operators. There certainly are other challenges that require a deeper dive to solution out. I want to discuss some fairly simple measure that have shown a level of success in combating theft.  Electronic monitoring of systems such as Security cameras and/or intrusion detection systems, which certainly have their placed when set up and deployed correctly, require a significant amount of initial investment along with ongoing O&M costs to maintain.

The theft of materials such as tools or copper and copper clad aluminum cabling tends to increase when a station is under construction or being refurbished. It's sort of like the mouse & the cheese scenario. Properly storing tools and materials under robust lock, key and out of sight is the first step. Using container boxes for the purposes of housing materials that are intended to be used during construction has shown a reduction of theft. If the mice can't see or smell the cheese, they are less likely to be attracted to taking the bait.

A second method that has shown one utility about a 90% reduction in theft is to have their cable supplier mark the cabling with the company's logo on it as a first phase. The second phase is to reach out to the recycling centers that buys cable in exchange for the metal and make them aware of the marked materials. It may be worthwhile to offer them a small reward for turning in thieves attempting to sell your stolen materials.  Large quantities of cable being offered for recycling should be a red flag for recycling companies, however if it's not apparent who the conductor belongs to renders this effort almost useless.

Not storing spare material at an unoccupied station location is also a major step and some districts/regions have rules against this practice.  This falls back to the keeping the site clean and boring looking to thieves.

If you have similar ideas that have worked for your organization, please share.