From Jan. 1, 2005, to Dec. 5, 2005, TXU Electric Delivery's Dallas (Texas) District experienced more than 117 security incidents involving illegal entry into substations. Of the incidents, 52 involved wire theft in the form of stolen equipment grounds and ground grid cables. In one incident, thieves pulled 700 ft (213 m) of #500 copper out of the ground. Two other incidents resulted in service outages at distribution substations, impacting 15,000 customers for approximately two hours. These situations were compounded by the creation of possible safety hazards that ungrounded substation equipment poses.

Since the thefts were crimes of convenience, the quickest solution to the problem seemed to involve making the task of removing the copper cable more difficult. TXU's short-term solution has been to use angle iron guards and flexible steel conduit to prevent “cut and run” thefts. The guards are welded to the station structures, encapsulating the ground wire. The guards extend from where the grounding cable attaches to the equipment to where it connects to the station-grounding grid. “Contact GS” is then poured onto the trench where the copper grounds attach to the ground grid. Contact GS is a ground-enhancing product from Continental Industries (Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.) that sets up much like concrete and prevents the thieves from easily pulling the grounding cable upward and out of the station base. Other solutions have involved using copper-weld (a difficult-to-cut copper bar material) as a ground conductor instead of the medium-drawn 2/0 and 4/0 copper cable originally used.

TXU's Corporate Security group is searching for various means of detection and deterrence. So far, all suggestions have proved to be fairly expensive. Other solutions being studied include stamping an identifying logo or symbol on the copper wire for identification purposes. This would assist local law enforcement agencies in establishing a connection between scrap material and the substation intrusions. This marking would make the material unsellable to scrap metal buyers.

Confident that TXU Electric Delivery is not the only utility plagued with wire theft, TXU is soliciting its ideas of others. No doubt there is no single solution, but many. Station lighting, improved perimeter fencing, intrusion alarms, security cameras and vegetation management all lend themselves to the overall solution.