For daring burglars, every copper theft could be their last. Starting to mess around with electrical substations to steal the precious metal carries with it the real possibility of a shocking end.

Maine’s Public Utilities Commission is calling attention to copper thefts, in the wake of a series of break-ins at utility companies across the state. Last spring it was a Bangor Hydro facility in Chester, last week it was a Central Maine Power site in Augusta, next week it’ll be another.

Soaring copper prices – up 17 percent this year alone, according to the International Herald-Tribune – have led everyday thieves into death-defying stunts to steal rolls of the copper wire from the utilities, sometimes from electrical substations carrying the highest of high-voltage.

The agency has compiled a list of frightening examples, such as the complete electrification of one victimized substation, as rationale for its effort. Financial concerns are also a high priority; the PUC has recorded 25 thefts of copper from utilities this year, with losses totaling $32,000.

The PUC is teaming with utilities and law enforcement to try to stem these thefts, as a lifesaving effort, to preserve electrical service, and to prevent utilities having to spend thousands to replace the stolen copper, a cost some utility executives said could eventually be passed to ratepayers.

If asked, however, ratepayers would likely prefer supporting additional security to prevent copper thefts, than subsidize the losses from continued thefts. Either way, though, consumers will foot the bill.

Though electrical burglaries generate most of the attention on copper thefts, the tremendous damage caused by the lust for the now-precious metal shouldn’t go unrealized. There’s a giant hole in the middle of downtown Lewiston caused by a copper burglary turned arson, done ostensibly to buy Christmas gifts.

Two local brothers, Timothy Giggey and Douglas Hersom, will – combined – spend the next two decades in federal prison thinking about their crimes. They, and another juvenile, set three downtown blocks alight last December after stealing copper from the vacant buildings.

Giggey was sentenced to eight years, while Hersom received 12.

Copper thefts are also becoming commonplace in the daily police blotters, around Lewiston-Auburn and across Western Maine. Some $3,000 in copper was stolen from a vacant house in Wilton in August, for example. Lewiston police are routinely reporting copper-related arrests and thefts, including multiple burglaries at an Ash Street residence.

Staunching thefts of copper is an issue beyond the utility company and the agency that regulates it, but has grown dangerous – and expensive – enough for something finally to be done. It’s strange to see the PUC lead essentially an anti-crime crusade, but somebody needed to step up.

Though we’re unsure what the PUC and utilities can do, aside from enhancing security, they deserve credit for bringing overdue attention to this widespread problem.