LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's an issue that's been plaguing the Las Vegas valley for years: street lights out in neighborhoods due to copper wire theft.
Channel 13 has covered this extensively, and now we're hearing from another viewer in Summerlin who says she's been dealing with it for an extended period of time too.
WATCH | Community members discuss the lighting issue in their area
In fact, it was a little over a year ago when I was in Summerlin reporting on a neighborhood near Desert Inn and Hualapai without working streetlights due to copper wire theft.
Those were eventually repaired, but I went back to meet up with Jane Kadoich, who reached out to us frustrated that streetlights have been out on DI between Hualapai and Town Center for more than a year.
"I got frustrated because it had been about 14 months since I sent in a Fix It request to the county," Kadoich told me. "I just felt that seems like a long enough time to have our turn to have our street lights fixed."
Kadoich took video of the outage while her husband was driving and you can see how dark it is along Desert Inn, which is a major thoroughfare — because it's such a high-traffic area, she has some understandable concerns.
"There's a crosswalk there, and I worry about the kids," Kadoich said. "They should be okay, but it just seems kind of unsafe."
I took Kadoich's concerns right to Clark County Public Works, wanting to find out the cause of the outage and why it's gone on for more than a year.
You probably won't be shocked to hear the cause is copper wire theft.
In an email, a Clark County spokesperson told me they have made street light repairs around Kadoich's neighborhood, but haven't gotten to that particular stretch of DI between Hualapai and Town Center yet, adding that it's planned for "Phase 2" of their "Wire Replacement Project," which is set to cost $3 million and kick off next spring.
It's not clear what other locations dealing with wire theft are set for repairs as part of that county project at this time.
"I'm glad that they provided a timeline," Kadoich said in response. "I'm not real happy with the timeline, but I'm glad they acknowledged it, they understand it and that at some point it will be fixed."
That timeline illustrates just how widespread the problem is, though.
Between December 2024 and this July, the county tells me contractors repaired $1.2 million worth of damages due to copper wire theft, and year-to-date, Clark County Public Works crews have replaced more than $500,000 in street light wiring that was stolen, according to data provided to Channel 13.
The numbers continue to be staggering, but the county tells me they're optimistic that steps they're taking to combat the costly copper wire theft conundrum are working, like installing new wiring on top of streetlights and out of reach of would-be thieves, using aluminum wiring instead of copper and increasing manpower specifically dedicated to these repairs.
Last year, I also reported on the county's solar street light pilot program at St. Louis and Fremont on the east side, which Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft told me at the time could be a long-term answer to copper wire theft.
"The technology is advancing very quickly, and I believe that eventually it'll be the solution," Naft told me last October. "It'll be the cheaper solution, more efficient solution."
However this week, a Clark County spokesperson told me that they have no plans to install solar lights elsewhere at this time, but they'll continue to evaluate the ones currently in place.
In the meantime, Kadoich tells me she's just glad to finally have an answer, and that reaching out to Channel 13 might have made a difference.
"I appreciate you guys calling, because I thought maybe that would help the county understand that it needs to be addressed," Kadoich said.
Clark County Public Works wants to remind you that if you see copper wire theft in progress, you should call 911.
Otherwise, you can report street light outages online through the "Fix It Clark County" portal, which you can do by clicking here.