Vandalism to nine Central Illinois Public Service substations in recent weeks has some officials fearing consequences such as a city-wide power outage or possible electrocution, a CIPS representative says.

Nine substations have been vandalized in the Southern Illinois area, George Sheppard, CIPS Southern area public affairs representative, said. A substation is an installation where transmission voltage comes in and is turned into usable electricity.

Vandals might cause a power interruption to an entire city that would be a tremendous danger to customers, Sheppard said. A power outage would affect hospitals, nursing homes and fire stations.

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CIPS provides electric service to approximately 317,000 customers in 557 communities within a 20,000 square-mile area of Central and Southern Illinois, Richard Dial, CIPS Southern division manager, said.

Sheppard said a power outage has not occurred as a result of the vandalism, but there has been substantial damage to the substations.

It would appear that they’re after the copper wire that’s in the stations to resell it, Sheppard said.

As far as the monetary value of the copper, it’s not more than $1,500 to $2,000, which is insignificant when compared to the thousands of dollars we’re spending in man hours to repair the stations.

Sheppard said someone could easily be electrocuted because of the high voltage in the substation.

It’s a very dangerous situation for whoever is vandalizing these substations, he said. This person may suffer a severe injury or death by electrocution.

It’s also dangerous for the repairman. They may not know if a substation has been sabotaged.

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CIPS officials said there are no suspects in this case. CIPS is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Officials said anyone with information should contact local law enforcement officials.