Cresatech joins forces with Kansas City Power and Light to improve safety in Electricity utilities
by Mark Cowan
Cresatech today announces it is working with Kansas City Power and Light (KCPL) to monitor substations in real-time to address the safety issues associated with copper theft.
Copper theft is a rising epidemic in the United States the Department of Energy estimated that copper theft costs U.S. businesses nearly $1 billion (USD) in losses annually.
KCP&L Site
Copper theft is a significant issue in the electricity distribution sector and often goes unnoticed until things go wrong.
The result is that until now utilities have been unaware of copper theft until a fault occurred, leaving both its employees and the wider public exposed to the potentially deadly combination of live electricity and unearthed equipment.
Using Cresatech’s CuTS ZM monitoring solution, KCPL is leading the field in addressing the safety issues associated with copper theft. It is now able to immediately know where safety has been compromised and take immediate action to address the safety risk. The live data can also be used to help identify any patterns, such as if thieves are targeting a specific area, and take proactive action to prevent further theft.
Bill Herrington, Senior Manager Transmission and substation construction and maintenance, KCPL commented, “Copper theft is a significant issue for electricity utilities and we have seen a surge in incidents over recent years. It is vital to us that our substations remain safe at all times and by working with Cresatech, we will be able to significantly reduce the risks of copper theft across 400 substations, spanning Missouri and Eastern Kansas.”
Cresatech CEO Simon Nash added, “Improving substation safety in the utility industry is at the heart of our business and we are keen to show utilities across the globe that technology now exists to pro- actively and cost effectively mitigate the safety risks of copper theft. We are delighted to be working with KCPL as a utility that is committed to improving the safety of not only its employees, but the wider public by monitoring its substations in real-time.”
