Dozens of light poles were stripped of their copper wiring in St. Paul’s St. Anthony Park neighborhood, though there have been fewer reports of such thefts in the city this year.

The darkening of city and park streetlights and traffic signals due to theft has been an ongoing problem, with St. Paul spending about $3 million last year in repairs and staff time. The costs were around $1.2 million in 2023. By comparison, the total cost in 2019 was about $250,000, according to the city.

Reports of such thefts to St. Paul Public Works — via an online form, email or phone call — numbered 511 through June 1 vs. 976 in the same period last year.

Statewide requirements intended to help prevent copper wire theft became law on Jan. 1; a lawsuit by an industry group is ongoing.

The decrease in reports in St. Paul is “a great indication that the law is working to reduce copper wire theft,” St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw said Tuesday.“It’s not eliminated, as this recent theft shows,” he said. “We believe there are some scrap yards that are not following the law.”

Last week, Minneapolis’ mayor and city leaders announced they’ll direct $1 million from the city’s contingency funds for fixes to street lighting outages due to copper wire theft. Minneapolis Public Works estimated 450 lights were out throughout the city due to the thefts.

Timeline unknown for fixing newly damaged lights

The large amount of wire theft in St. Paul was found Sunday. Police responded to the 2300 block of Hillside Avenue just after 10 a.m. on a report of criminal damage to property. A junction box connecting city-owned light poles was damaged, said Alyssa Arcand, a St. Paul police spokeswoman.

Officers discovered approximately 40 city light poles in the area of Como Avenue and Minnesota 280 weren’t working because wiring had been stolen, Arcand said. Public Works has more than 32,000 street lights across the city.

No one was under arrest as of Tuesday afternoon. The timeline for fixing the 40 lights isn’t known.

“We are aware of this recent theft and will get to it as soon as we possibly can,” said Lisa Hiebert, a Public Works spokeswoman. “Crews are also handling a backlog of repairing streetlights throughout the city because they were not able to rewire frozen conduits in the winter.”

Trying new ways to deter thefts

Public Works has tried a variety of efforts to deter thefts, from keeping streetlights on 24/7 to bolting access panels, putting in different screws or welding the panels. Almost everything that people have suggested, “we have tried,” Kershaw said.

There are new efforts from repair crews. They are taking “creative” steps to prevent theft from happening at the same light pole again, Kershaw said, adding that he can’t get into specifics because they don’t want thieves to be able to circumvent the measures they’re taking.

“A few years ago, we would repair a street light and then that next day, that next week, that next month, it’s stolen again.” Kershaw said.

Now, they’re finding their efforts are, “for the most part, making it much more difficult to go in and steal copper again,” he said. “Our problem is that we have 25,000 to 30,000 lantern lights in St. Paul, so we can’t proactively get to them.”

Public Works has tried a pilot program with new streetlights that have access panels up higher. “Those appear to be working really well,” Kershaw said. The city would need to find the funding to continue that effort.

The city will be installing solar-powered street lights this summer as part of a reconstruction of Pleasant Avenue.

One of the problems with solar lights in a northern climate is the light doesn’t tend to last long enough through the night in the wintertime, Kershaw said. “We think solar technology will get there and we’re using it in limited circumstances, but it’s not yet a way to solve the problems that are really bugging the public the most,” he said.

Attorney: Scrap yards affected by law

The Recycled Materials Association filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Commerce over the new law in November 2024. A Ramsey County judge took the case under advisement at the end of May and has not yet issued her decision.

Jack Perry, an attorney representing the association, said he’s heard anecdotally that the law “has been devastating” to some businesses.

“I don’t know who’s been hurt the most, but everyone has been affected,” he said.