A MainPower employee has received an electric shock while repairing network damage caused by copper thieves - a stark sign of the growing danger these thefts are creating across North Canterbury.
The worker was carrying out a routine repair on a power pole where thieves had earlier cut and stolen copper earthing wire.
MainPower chief executive Sean Horgan says the incident is exactly the danger the company has been warning about since the thefts surged earlier in the year.
"One of our experienced employees was carrying out a routine repair when they received a shock from a pole where thieves had stripped out the copper earthing wire and damaged an adjacent electricity asset in the process. That wire is there to carry electricity safely to ground, and without it an everyday job became dangerous.
"Our team member had the appropriate safety equipment and we are grateful they are okay. However, if it was a member of the public this could have been a different outcome.”
Copper earthing wires are a critical safety feature. If a fault occurs on a power pole, the earth wire directs electricity safely into the ground.
When that wire is cut or stolen, the risk of electric shock, burns or fire rises sharply, and the danger is invisible to anyone who comes near.
"Our concern is for the safety of our communities,” Mr Horgan said.
"A child or anyone who comes across a damaged pole or a loose wire has no way of knowing it could be live. These thieves are not just stealing from the community for the sake of a few dollars, they are leaving hidden hazards behind them."
MainPower is the electricity distribution network for North Canterbury. Based in Rangiora, it is responsible for delivering electricity to over 44,000 homes and businesses in the Waimakariri, Hurunui and Kaikōura districts.
Since the start of the year, MainPower has recorded more than 300 separate thefts of copper earthing wire from poles across North Canterbury, with an estimated cost of more than $1 million to repair and the cost of these repairs falls on every power consumer in the region.
MainPower is offering a reward of up to $5000 for significant information that helps identify those responsible, and has been working alongside a private investigator, local Community Patrol groups and police.
