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Copper Wire Theft Leaves Thousands Without Power, Hocking College Closed
By: Atish Baidya, Joe Higgins | Athens Messenger
Posted on:
UPDATE 3:05 p.m. Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly says his department may have a person of interest related to the theft of copper wire from a American Electric Power Ohio's station in Nelsonville that left thousands of customers without electricity.
Sheriff Kelly said investigators are waiting on AEP Ohio to positively identify some copper wire as belonging to the company. Sheriff Kelly would not say how investigators obtained the wire.
AEP Ohio estimates repairs to the facility will be complete by 6 p.m. Wednesday.
According to the AEP outage map 4,896 customers are without power in Athens County. Customers in three other counties are also without power due to the copper thefts. They include:
Fairfield: 1,413
Hocking: 1,427
Vinton: 166
UPDATE 1:20 p.m. Hocking College is closed effective 1 p.m.
Hocking College spokesperson Michelle O'Brien says the college is closed due to the power outage.
No word on when classes will resume.
UPDATE 10:57 a.m. American Electric Power estimates repairs to its Nelsonville station will be complete by about 6 p.m. Wednesday evening after thieves stole copper wire from the facility.
According to the AEP outage map 4,894 customers are without power in Athens County. Customers in three other counties are also without power due to the copper thefts. They include:
Fairfield: 1,413
Hocking: 1,427
Vinton: 166
AEP is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for the arrest and successful prosecution of the person(s) guilty to committing this crime.
An estimated 6,500 people in the northern part of Athens County are without power Wednesday morning as American Electric Power shut down its Nelsonville station due to the theft of copper wire from the facility.
Automated calls went out to some AEP customers around 8:30 a.m. indicating that power would be cut to the area. Another call was made about an hour later that indicated the cause of the outage was due to the theft of copper wires by unknown person(s).
Terri Flora, director of communications for AEP Ohio, told The Messenger that for safety reasons, the decision was made to shut down the AEP station on Route 691 near Kimberly Road in Nelsonville. She said workers this morning found that copper had been stolen from the building and that in order to make repairs, the station had to be shut down.
Flora said every piece of copper in the building was stolen including potentially dangerous components.
"They took everything from the grounds to the barbwire and neutrals … everything," said Flora. "Those neutrals can be energized … I'm amazed we didn't find a body. That's extremely risky and not worth it."
According to Flora, the affected outage areas include Nelsonville, Carbondale, Haydenville, Buchtel and Chauncey. She said workers estimate that power could be restored by noon, noting that they are working as fast as they can in anticipation of a hot day. Employees are working to restore power first and then will complete additional repairs in the coming weeks.
Flora said AEP is working with local authorities to investigate the incident. She asked that anyone with information that might be helpful to the case to contact the Athens County Sheriff's Office.
"No one should be in that station," she said. "It's pretty obvious when we're there because we're in gear and our lights are running. You shouldn't see just a pickup truck or something in there."
AEP is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for the arrest and successful prosecution of the person(s) guilty to committing this crime.