Copper prices are rising. Thieves are taking notice

Often strung from utility poles or buried beneath our feet, copper wire has played a critical role in powering America’s electrical grid for more than a century. But brazen thefts are threatening the grid, with thieves climbing onto car roofs to cut down telephone lines or prying open manholes in broad daylight to strip copper wiring.

This year, copper prices have reached all-time highs on a jump in new data center construction and speculation about new tariffs by the Trump administration, according to JPMorgan. In the United States, copper prices have climbed more than 30% this year.

The price of copper has driven the thefts, said one detective at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

Read more from CNN.