Saskatchewan

SaskPower employees fired over $12K copper theft: province

Three SaskPower employees have been fired after $12,000 worth of copper was stolen from the Crown utility.

3 employees fired, 6 others disciplined

A pile of copper wire
Copper's high value on the scrap market makes it an attractive target for thieves. (CBC)

 Three SaskPower employees have been fired after $12,000 worth of copper was stolen from the Crown utility.

The theft was included in a report released Monday on Crown corporation losses in the first three months of 2020.

The government says the scrap copper was stolen in previous years. 

Because of the high scrap value, copper thefts are relatively common in Saskatchewan, although perhaps not ones involving SaskPower employees.

In addition to the three employees who were fired, six others at SaskPower were disciplined, but apparently kept their jobs.

SaskPower is working on changes to make sure this doesn't happen again.

"Recommendations regarding appropriate processes and controls will be made to management once the review by Internal Audit has been completed," the report said.

The company has also reported the theft to the police.

The report of Crown losses also said some other scrap copper has been located.

"In addition to the copper that was stolen, approximately $8,500 of copper was recovered by SaskPower," the report said.