Copper theft leads to power outage in eastern P.E.I.

About 12,700 Maritime Electric customers in eastern P.E.I. were briefly without power at around 3 p.m. Friday.

Spokesperson Kim Griffin said someone broke into the Lorne Valley substation and stole copper.

An emergency outage was needed while the repairs were done, she said.

Griffin said crews have found damages at other substations and are working with the RCMP.

She said the copper, worth hundreds of dollars, is marked in such a way that it can be identified.

"Our concern is for the safety of our crews and the inconvenience it can cause our customers with power outages and damages to our equipment," she said.

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