AT&T Reports Decline in Louisville, Kentucky, Copper Theft
The company is expanding efforts statewide to prevent copper theft by offering a $10,000 reward.
WASHINGTON, June 18, 2026 – Copper theft from AT&T is down significantly in Louisville, Kentucky, because of a partnership with law enforcement. The company said it is working to expand this approach in other parts of the state.
In 2023 and 2024, AT&T said it saw as many as three copper wire theft incidents per day in Louisville. Yet, from 2025 to 2026, theft incidents impacting the company have dropped 90%. In February and March of this year, there were zero incidents of copper theft.
AT&T says that working with Louisville law enforcement has led to arrests and a decline in theft, but copper theft still remains a prominent issue in Kentucky.
According to AT&T’s blog post, last year in Martin County, Ky., fiber optic cables and phone lines were cut, resulting in a widespread outage that left residents unable to reach 911 services. In Estill County, Ky. about 1,500 feet of telecommunications cable was stolen, disrupting 911 and internet services for about five hours.
This year alone, there have been 99 reported copper thefts that have disrupted connectivity for residents of East and Central Kentucky, costing AT&T $500,000 in repairs. Last year there were 205 thefts, resulting in $1.6 million in repairs, the blog post said.
AT&T Kentucky President Carlos Sanchez said the company is offering a $10,000 reward for tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of copper theft suspects in the state.
In a blog post, Sanchez said, “This reward sends a clear message: copper theft is a serious crime and stopping it will take all of us to work together.” In Louisville, he ntoed, “appropriate laws and a coordinated task force response have led to arrests and a sharp decline in theft.”
The company is working with Kentucky lawmakers. Senate Bill 291 aims to crack down on copper theft by strengthening reporting requirements for metal transactions and requiring recyclers to have a copy of the seller’s ID and photos of the seller’s vehicle uploaded to a state database.
The legislature has passed the bill and awaits Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s (D) signature.
Copper theft has become a prominent issue in the U.S., with more than 15,000 incidents of theft recorded between June 2024 and 2025. The outages have disrupted service for more than 9.5 million Americans, costing millions.
States and cities are working to crack down on copper theft by tightening penalties. In 2025, 23 states considered new laws and 13 enacted tougher protections around copper theft.
