Copper theft attempt causes fire, power outage for 13,000 in SE Queensland

An attempt to steal copper from a south-east Queensland substation caused a fire and left about 13,000 customers without power overnight.

State-owned Energex said a fire at its Browns Plains substation caused a power outage for customers in suburbs including Boronia Heights, Hillcrest and Regents Park from 2:45am.

Energex field delivery general manager Kev Lavender said it appeared someone had broken into a cable pit outside the substation and attempted to cut through an 11,000-volt cable.

"We suspect that anyone who's been involved in cutting through a live 11,000-volt cable could have serious injuries, and it could've resulted in a fatality," he said.

Mr Lavender said at the peak of the outage, about 13,000 customers had been impacted, but by 10:15am power had been returned to almost half of those affected.

Mr Lavender said Energex had seen an increase in attempts to steal copper across the network as well as in new housing estates and developments.

"We have had nearly 1,000 attempts at cable theft across Queensland in the past 12 months," he said.

Mr Lavender said Energex had been replacing a lot of its copper cables, and it appeared the one that was cut overnight was aluminium.

He described the behaviour as "selfish".

"This has happened a couple of times now with our high voltage network, so 11,000 volts and above," he said.

The Queensland government introduced legislation to parliament earlier this year aimed at strengthening penalties for metal theft, including new offences relating to possession of suspected stolen metal items.

The changes also place additional obligations on scrap metal dealers in an effort to make it harder for stolen copper to be resold.

Mr Lavender said the public should report any suspicious behaviour around Energex's infrastructure to police.