Paying the Price of Power Theft

Power thieves risk seriously injuring themselves and others

In the early 1980s, when the price of gasoline started rising, another disturbing trend emerged as well.  Alongside news stories of long lines at the pumps and people curtailing travel plans, were stories of people becoming seriously ill or dying after siphoning gasoline from cars.   

As costs rise for every form of energy, Dennis Schultz, Director of Utility Operations for Rock Energy Cooperative, hopes that we don’t see news stories about people being severely injured tampering with their power meter with a butter knife.

Unheard of until recently, power theft is an emerging concern for all utilities, Rock Energy Cooperative included.  In 2007, the co-op experienced 10 cases of theft compared to one case a year prior to that. 

Most electrical theft crimes occur through meter tampering, bypassing meters and tapping power lines. Other less frequent crimes include tapping into neighboring premises, using illegal lines after being disconnected, self-reconnection without consent and electrifying fences. Possessing fraudulent electricity bills is also a federal crime and is punishable by law.

Power theft carries deadly risks. Many thieves have paid for the power they are stealing with their lives, but the danger does not end with those who are engaging in illegal activity.

“Other consumers on the same line and utility personnel that work on those lines are all at risk when someone tampers with electricity or electrical equipment,” Schultz said. “We’ve been very lucky not to have had anyone seriously injured so far.”

An overload of electricity could result in extremely high voltages that may damage appliances of neighboring homes and businesses. Excessive current that is not safeguarded by a fuse is especially dangerous.

From a reliability standpoint, illegal connections to power sources and attempts to divert metering devices can overload the system, cause interruptions and compromise power quality.  Outtages, fires and explosions can result.

In emergency situations such as fires, power has to be shut off to help firefighters and ambulance crews enter a building safely. If lines have been interfered with illegally, the lines could remain energized, endangering the lives of the emergency personnel.

“Our personnel wear and use a lot of personal protection equipment because we know that as little as 1/10th of an amp of electricity can severely injure someone,” Schultz explained.  While there is no way for a layman to know how many amps are flowing through a given meter at a given moment, Schultz said it is safe to assume the amounts are always lethal.

In the local area, most thefts have involved persons reconnecting services themselves after the co-op has disconnected service. That has made it relatively easy for co-op personnel to catch the thieves.

“We frequently check the status of disconnects,” Schultz said.  When REC personnel find a meter that has been tampered with, or other evidence of power theft, they will photograph the evidence and contact the police to report the crime. 

In addition to criminal proceedings, the co-op has several billing policies in place to deter power theft. A bill based on previous average kilowatt use will be presented covering the period of time from the original disconnect to the theft disconnection.

As a result of the rise in theft cases in 2007, the Board of Directors of the co-op recently approved a new $200.00 power theft fine.  The fine is assessed whether criminal proceedings are concluded or not. 

Schultz hopes the new fine, along with the regular billing and the threat of criminal charges will make anyone considering power theft think again. 

“After all,” he said, “As a member of a co-op, you own the utility.  That means you really are stealing from yourself.”