At about 5:45 a.m. on Dec. 13, Clallam County PUD reported a burglary at its substation on Laird Road in Port Angeles.

PUD officials received notice that power was out in Elwha Valley area. When PUD workers went to the substation to investigate the cause of the outage, they found a hole was cut in the fence. They found the copper grounding wires inside the substation were cut free and many of them stolen.

According to a Clallam County Sheriff’s Office press release, when one of the grounding wires was cut it made contact with a regulator causing a short circuit and the short circuit damaged two other regulators. This caused the power outage for the Elwha Valley area.

According to sheriff’s office sources, security footage showing the thief cutting one of the grounding wires to one of the regulators created an electrical arc, or discharge of current formed when a strong current jumps a gap in a circuit or between two electrodes, producing light and heat. According to PUD employees, the suspect should have burns in the areas of his face, neck and hands, law enforcement officers said.

A PUD employee estimated the theft and damages are at least $120,000.

Clallam County deputies are continuing to investigate this case. If anyone has information relating to this case, they are asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 417-2459.