Empire Electric Company is offering $10,000 dollars for information on who may be behind the theft of copper at its substation in Buffalo.

Empire says cutting copper lines could cause electrocution.

In the last thirty years two people have actually been electrocuted while trying to steal the metal.

Empire says the recent theft at the Buffalo substation is the last straw.

"Not only is it a danger to them, its a danger to our workers who come into the station no knowing its been done," says substation manager Joe Johnson.

Johnson is talking about the safety concern over the recent break-in and theft of copper over the Fourth of July weekend.

"They cut 'em loose which cut that transformer from our system and you cut if from our system it created a real hazard for them as well as those who showed back up," Johnson says.

He says the thief took seventy pounds of copper with a street value of $70. Now Empire Electric is offering a lot more than that to stop the criminal.

"We've set up a $10,000 reward for any info that would lead to the arrest and prosecution of the people who have been breaking into the substation," says Lance Brubridge with Empire Electric Company.

"It's definitely not acceptable and anything we can get to get it stopped we need to do that," says Johnson.

A senate bill passed this year makes stealing copper from an electrical plant a Class C felony. The bill also requires those who purchase or deal with the copper to keep a registry of who they buy from.

"It's not the money its the safety of our employees and our customers and basically the people doing it we don't want to have to recover bodies we just don't want to do it," says Burbridge.

Empire says that a break-in was reported just this weekend at the Hollister substation.

Empire wasn't sure if anything was stolen, but they say its just another reason to make sure this type of thing gets stopped.

You can contact the Dallas County Sheriff's Office with any information you might have.