@$ID/NormalParagraphStyle:Copper thieves blamed for outage

The lights went out for about two hours in four towns on Monday after utility employees discovered that copper had been stolen from substations in Sharon and East Banard.

Green Mountain Power Company spokesman Jeremy Baker said power was cut to the towns of Sharon, Barnard, Strafford and portions of Royalton on Monday to allow utility crews to make emergency repairs to the substations.

An employee with the power company discovered Monday morning that the fence around one of the stations had been cut and the door was open.

Baker said the thieves who entered the substations put themselves and the lives of the company’s employees in great peril due to possible electrocution.

“To say what they did was dangerous would be an understatement,” he said. “It’s something that’s becoming all too common but I’m not sure that people are making the connection that they’re risking their lives for rather modest financial gains.”