Alleged copper thief arrested following surge that targetted underground hydro grid

London police have made an arrest in an ongoing investigation that saw almost two dozen copper installations in London vandalized.

Police said Thursday a 42-year-old London man was facing multiple charges, including theft and possession of instruments used in break-ins.

"At this time we've charged one person," said constable Matt Dawson with the London Police Service (LPS), "but the investigations do remain ongoing."

Twenty-three incidents of copper wire theft were reported between November and March 2025, with the majority occurring in the downtown.

"Investigators reviewed video surveillance and learned the same suspect male was responsible for the thefts," police said in a statement Thursday.

"We've seen the number of incidents start to tick up in terms of copper theft from live installations," said Ysni Semsedini, the CEO of London Hydro.

London Hydro had said thieves primarily targeting the underground network, and on high voltage infrastructure, usually stealing in the overnight hours between two to five in the morning.

"For us, that poses a huge safety risk, both for the people who are stealing the copper and then also for our employees who are having to go in and try to fix the system that's been tampered with," said Ysni Semsedini, the CEO of London Hydro in March.

Copper wire theft is a major issue and has been on the rise across the country, federal officials told the Senate's transport and communications committee in December.

Canadian telecom carriers in particular had more than 1,300 incidents of copper wire theft since January 2022, the committee heard.

Major companies like Bell Canada and Telus Corp. have been decommissioning some of their copper lines in recent years as they move more toward fibre-powered networks.