Electricity theft: detection, liability, fines

In domestic practice, no one is surprised by the theft of electricity, even in Soviet times, when the tariff was mere pennies, people still tried not to pay even what was charged by simple induction meters. With the advent of capitalism, electric utilities began to count every kilowatt and made incredible efforts to prevent the theft of electricity.

Due to the crackdown, unscrupulous consumers have lost the ability to directly bypass the security system, so they have found a loophole by connecting to their neighbors' networks. If you have any doubts about your neighbors stealing electricity, you should immediately check this fact for both your financial and electrical safety.

How to Steal Light With Grounding

Hello! Today I would like to talk about popular methods of stealing electricity in an apartment and house, which are used by electrician thieves.

The purpose of this article is to inform ordinary homeowners about the schemes used by unscrupulous consumers to steal, possibly your electricity. In this publication we will look at the most used methods of fraud and theft of electrical energy from power supply networks and their calculation. Our goal is to warn ordinary users about the consequences of such actions in relation to the electricity service provided to them. We also note that regulatory organizations and departments are well aware of these methods of fraud, a set of measures has been developed aimed at exposing careless consumers, and measures have also been developed to counter them. Previously, we talked about legal ways to save energy.

Basically, unscrupulous consumers are pushed to steal electricity by: low level of income, constant increase in tariff coupled with high energy consumption, misuse of the resource. But there are also individuals for whom such manipulations are a way of self-affirmation in the eyes of friends and themselves.

Archive of numbers

One of the highest priority issues for Russian power engineers remains the issue of reducing electricity losses in networks. According to experts, in 2010 alone, losses amounted to about 130 billion kWh.

For comparison: all nuclear power plants in the country produce approximately the same amount of electricity. Significant losses of electricity are typical for electrical networks of all voltage levels, of any form of ownership and affiliation - from networks of industrial enterprises of 0.4–10 kV to main electrical networks of 220–750 kV.

According to official data alone, about 10% of electricity is stolen every year in Russia. In reality, this figure is much higher.

Deception of the electric meter through grounding

Method 2.

“Saving” electricity by excluding the meter from the power supply circuit. If the connection to the meter is made according to a permanent scheme, at one point you risk being fined a very significant amount (for example, annual electricity consumption). If you connect the load to the meter using some unreliable, temporary connections (some use needles), then poor contact at the connection point can cause a fire. Another way to exclude the meter from the load power circuit is to short-circuit its current winding. In this case, the current flowing through the counter is zero and the counter disk does not rotate. The danger here is the unreliability of the contact connection. The meter's terminal box is sealed and you cannot provide a reliable contact connection, and the load current of the entire apartment flows through this jumper. As a result, it will heat up, which can damage the meter. Unreliable contact can lead to periodic power outages and, under certain conditions, cause failure of some household appliances. In general, there are no methods that cannot be discovered. This method is checked simply: the circuit breakers (or plugs) at the input are turned off, and if there is voltage in any socket (or even better, some device continues to work), then there is a connection to the meter. The consequence is a fine.

One thing is bad: at the entrance of the cap there is a password in the form of a seal. But you are a free person, you live in a free country, so away with all barriers. What happens next? Then, not very soon, maybe in a year, your aunt will ring your doorbell with an electric flashlight in her hand. Where is your book for light? Just think, damn it, their network administrator calls electricity LIGHT! Why don't you pay? Why isn't your counter spinning? In general, this lady's driving sucks. You calmly tell her that you don’t have to keep an eye on their meter, that just anyone is hanging around in the entrances, despite the intercoms, and from your locked hallway, where several apartments are located, in winter some parasite stole the sled that you left there on a few minutes.

Who does this concern?

Fines are imposed on those who connect to power grids without permission, that is, without permission. And to those who somehow managed to use electricity, gas and heat without a meter. There are many ways to do both. They are used in the private sector, apartment buildings, large enterprises and private workshops.

Some people try to save on utility bills. To do this, they use resources bypassing counters. Or they modify the counters so that they count fewer resources. Or, for example, officially gas is supplied only to the house, and then they cut into a pipe and also heat the garage with a greenhouse.

Resource suppliers are trying to fight this, and the state is helping them. But still in some regions, 50% of consumers steal electricity, and almost 20% are caught repeatedly making unauthorized connections. They now face increased fines.

How to steal electricity using grounding

If, when examining your meter, you identify any third-party wires that are suitable in addition to the normal circuit, then this indicates that your neighbors are stealing electricity, taking it away from your meter. The direction of these additional conductors should then be found.

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Why isn't your counter spinning? In general, this lady's driving sucks. You calmly tell her that you don’t have to keep an eye on their meter, that just anyone is hanging around in the entrances, despite the intercoms, and from your locked hallway, where several apartments are located, in winter some parasite stole the sled that you left there on a few minutes.

One guy bought a magnet and carried it home in his trouser pocket. And so, passing by the metal gate, the magnet magnetized the unfortunate man tightly. Not in the sense of dying, but in the sense that I had to rip my trousers to free myself. And then the magnet was torn off with a hammer and chisel.

Many sites on the Internet describe many ways to steal electricity, including connection options and diagrams of homemade devices. There are also ready-made products on sale, which, according to their creators, allow you to legally save electricity by converting reactive power. In most cases, such devices do little to nothing and are sold for a lot of money to gullible buyers.

How to steal electricity if the meter is on the street

  1. Report the loss to the police department. This must be done, since the meter installed on the flight of stairs is the property of the consumer. Even if the meter is on a pole, it is also necessary to report this to the police department in order to avoid further suspicion on the part of the network organization that the consumer himself committed theft.
  2. Receive a document from the internal affairs bodies indicating that the theft has been recorded.
  3. Depending on where the energy meter is located, contact the service organization with a statement and attach a document from the police and report that the meter was stolen:
  • if the meter was on a pole or on the facade of a private house, you should contact directly the network organization serving this territory;
  • if the meter was located in the entrance, you should inform two organizations at once: the management company - if the apartment building is serviced by the management company;
  • the energy supply company from which bills are received.

Due to the crackdown, unscrupulous consumers have lost the ability to directly bypass the security system, so they have found a loophole by connecting to their neighbors' networks. If you have any doubts about your neighbors stealing electricity, you should immediately check this fact for both your financial and electrical safety.

Individual experiments do not count. Not everyone can make friends even with explosive gas. In a personal household, this is simply an irreplaceable thing. https://auto-minsk.maxbb.ru/forum43.html \ “unwillingness to think and invest money in new technologies.” Alexander, you are talking about business, but there are completely different laws. Double standards, double policies, double morals... Haven't you noticed the difference between an entrepreneur and an ordinary citizen? You can buy in bulk, have a bank, lobby for your interests, dictate laws, have a private army, kill people for profit…. If only there was a piece of paper (license) that opens any door. I myself am an individual entrepreneur, not from a good life, believe me, I’m telling you what I see. Few people are interested in patents, and you have to pay for a patent. Nobody needs the inventor, that’s where the trouble lies, especially his inventions. Money is not the main thing, money is not managed by those “people” who are obliged by the constitution to act in the interests and for the benefit of the people, COMPETITION FOR THE RIGHT TO SERVE FROM THE CONSUMER, that’s where the dog is buried. Who will allow the implementation of a new plant if the old one, already expanded to a certain volume, has not “recaptured” the planned profit for the oligarch, although it produces products that are 50 years old? It's easier to kill the inventor... “I put him on a keg of gunpowder, let him fly...” In general, I won’t argue, there’s too much crap to clear up to understand “what is a scam?”

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The instructions for my multimeter say that under no circumstances should resistance measurements be taken in live circuits. Continuity, as I understand it, also refers to the resistance measurement mode. A couple of times, out of inexperience, I measured the “negative” resistance on dead batteries, and it showed negative resistance. The device is alive, of course, but you can imagine what will happen if you try to dial 220.

You will have to pay separately for unaccounted resources

A fine is a punishment for the very fact of violation. If during an inspection you find an unauthorized connection or a non-working meter, this is already a reason for a fine.

Unaccounted resources will be calculated separately: how much electricity the supplier potentially lost. This volume will be calculated based on the maximum power since the last check. Even if the connection was made a week ago, they can easily charge you for several months of round-the-clock consumption at increased rates.

I bring to your attention, in connection with the need that has arisen and guided by part 2 of Art. 24, paragraph 4, art. 29, art. 33 Constitution of the Russian Federation, Federal Law of May 2, 2006 N 59-FZ “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation. Paragraph 3 of Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 31, 1993 No. 2334 “On additional guarantees of citizens’ rights to access information” establishes that the activities of government bodies, organizations and enterprises, public associations, and officials are carried out on the principles of information openness, which is expressed, among other things, in the accessibility to citizens of information that is of public interest or affects the personal interests of citizens.

The requirements listed below are drawn up in the state Russian language, Part 1 of Article 68 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which will not give grounds for excuses for misunderstanding its meaning,

Provide a certified copy of the following documents, namely:

1. A scientific opinion from an authoritative expert on what “electricity” actually is. An explanation, in a form accessible to the consumer, of what exactly electricity is: a product or a service.

2. An official document according to which “the moment of the first actual connection of the subscriber in the prescribed manner to the connected network” is recorded (according to paragraph 1 of Article 540 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), as well as the full name of the legal entity indicating the OGRN, which acted as the other party “ under an energy supply agreement."

3. Legal basis for assigning the PREMISES personal account number No. 467.

4. Numerical decoding of all barcodes in ANONYMOUS with detailed explanations.

5. Justification for the tariff in the amount of 9768.69 kWh - a detailed explanation of what exactly the cost of the tariff consists of.

6. A copy of the license for trading electricity on the territory of the Russian Federation.

7. A package of documents establishing the right to sell electricity to residents of an apartment building located at the address: 305004, Kursk region, Kursk, Semenovskaya st., 98,

8. Agreement between the Legal Entity and the administration of the city of Kursk on permission to trade electricity in the territory of the municipal district of the city of Kursk.

9. Information on payments to residents of the owners of premises in an apartment building located at the address: 305004, Kursk region, Kursk, Semenovskaya St., 98, for the use of communications belonging to them - power supply networks.

10. An official document indicating the source of data (full name of the legal entity, OGRN), confirming the legal entity’s ownership of electricity in the territory located at the address: 305004, Kursk region, Kursk, Semenovskaya St., 98.

11. An official document indicating the source of data (full name of the legal entity, OGRN), confirming that the Legal Entity produces electricity.

12. Act (acts) of transfer from the jurisdiction of the USSR to the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation or to other persons: on what basis were the power supply networks built in the USSR, which were the property of the entire people of the USSR and, in particular, residents of the apartment complex in the territory located at the address: 305004, transferred, Kursk region, Kursk, Semenovskaya st., 98.

13. Certificates of completed work for each month for my signature, starting from 1991 to the present 2022.

14. An official document indicating the source of data (full name of the legal entity, OGRN) where the Legal Entity obtained information about the number of residents in the PREMISES located at the address: 305004, Kursk region, Kursk, Semenovskaya St., 98,

When linking to a website to view documents, it is worth attaching the opinion of an authoritative expert that the specified documents are originals and not fabricated fakes using a photo editor program.

When referring to Art. 540 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the so-called “public contract”, it is worth considering that, according to another public contract - the Constitution of the Russian Federation, according to Art. 7, art. 9, address all your material claims to the Administration of Kursk.

If you do not recognize the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which is the main\supreme law of our country, report this directly to the guarantor - Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, by sending a letter through the Russian Post (103132 Moscow, Ilyinka Street, 23) or through the electronic reception ( https://letters.kremlin.ru/)

When referring to Resolution No. 354 of 05/06/2011, it is worth considering that in the hierarchy of laws of the Russian Federation, federal laws are higher than government regulations.

I AM NOTIFYING YOU: I am suspending payment for ANONYMOUS ID cards, since ANONYMIC ID cards are not a payment document, much less mandatory for payment for the following reasons: it does not have the signature of the chief accountant and the seal of the organization; the contract number is not indicated (an agreement was never concluded between me and the LLC). Also, I was not provided with monthly certificates of work performed for the allegedly provided service for signature - which is primary documentation in accordance with 402-FZ “On Accounting”, as well as a violation of GOSTs: R 6.30-2003, R 7.0.8-2013. Let me explain: a seal impression certifies the authenticity of an official’s signature on documents certifying the rights of persons, recording facts related to financial assets, as well as on other documents that provide for the certification of an authentic signature. Without the signature of the chief accountant, certified by the seal of a legal entity, which must contain the INN and OGRN, this is not an invoice, but a sheet that has no legal force.

The legal entity has not provided me with any services and cannot provide them. Electricity does NOT belong to you, you DO NOT produce it, you DO NOT mine it. You do not have rights to a LIFE SUPPORTING resource.

I WARN YOU: any attempts to deprive me of access and/or limit access to electricity will be assessed in accordance with Art. 357 Genocide, Art. 125 Leaving in danger, Art. 30 Preparation for a crime and attempted crime, Art. 215.1 Termination or limitation of the supply of electrical energy or disconnection from other sources of life support, Art. 215.2 Rendering life support facilities unusable, Art. 167 Deliberate destruction or damage to property, Art. 25 Crime committed intentionally, Art. 159 Fraud, Art. 163 Extortion, Art. 330 Arbitrariness, Art. 171 Illegal entrepreneurship, according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in relation to me and my family.

If you do not agree with my arguments and the norms of Russian legislation, you must provide reasoned written refutations on the merits of this request by means of a written response to me.

If there are no objections to my statement of demand, provide a formal response/unsubscribe, not on the merits, etc. and so on. your inaction/action will mean a sincere confession of the above crimes consciously and intentionally, which I will be forced to report to the investigative authorities of the Russian Federation.

I authorize the use of publicly available personal data in accordance with Federal Law N152. I prohibit the automated processing of personal data and its transfer to third parties, including cross-border, in accordance with Articles 23, 24 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Article 9, Part 4 of Federal Law N152.

For information, I inform you: An unlawful refusal by an official to provide a citizen and (or) organization with information, the provision of which is provided for in Article 8 of Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 2300-1 of 02/07/1992, “On the Protection of Consumer Rights,” as well as untimely provision of it, or Providing knowingly incomplete, unreliable or knowingly false information, if these acts caused harm to the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, entails:

Imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of one thousand to three thousand rubles, Article 5.39 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation;

Imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of five to twenty thousand rubles; for legal entities - from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand rubles; in case of relapse, entails disqualification for a period of one to three years, Article 19.8.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation;

Punishable by a fine in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to eighteen months, or by deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of two to five years, Article 140 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;

Violation of equality of rights and freedoms of a citizen, Article 136 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;

The application-demand was drawn up in the state Russian language, Part 1 of Article 68 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which will not give grounds for excuses for misunderstanding its meaning.

Please send the requested information to the specified postal address: 305004, Kursk region, Kursk, Semenovskaya str., 98,

Source

How to steal electricity if the meter is on the street

Today, neighbors who were caught stealing electricity will be subject not only to administrative penalties in the form of a fine, but also to criminal liability. Therefore, you should understand that the result of your appeal will be the imposition of penalties or even imprisonment for up to 2 years.

According to the requirements established by Article 9.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, the amount of the minimum fine will directly depend on the form of ownership, because neighbors who steal electricity can do this not only for private purposes, but also to solve any commercial problems.

How to figure it out: to catch such a thief, you need to go through storerooms and sheds in order to find a transformer for unwinding. Typically, this device is bulky and easy to spot.

  • A fairly primitive method is to throw on the wires. This option is common when connecting a powerful machine or welding during construction and repair. The cover is removed when you stop using the device.
  • How to calculate: the check is carried out based on complaints from neighbors, who most often detect voltage drops, manifested in the blinking of lights. Talking to your neighbors is always helpful because some of them are well aware of who is actually stealing electricity.
  • submit an application to the management company with a request to check the connection of your meter;
  • after the arrival of a representative of Energosbyt, together with him, prepare a report on the presence of theft, and also record the available evidence in the presence of witnesses (for greater persuasiveness, you can also ask them to sign the drafted report);
  • Upon completion of all these actions, you can contact the court and the prosecutor's office, which are obliged to deal with your issue within a specified time frame.

Typical frequently asked questions from readers

The neutral wire coming from my electric meter turned out to be connected to the neutral wire coming from the neighbor's electric meter. Could it be that, under some circumstances, my neighbor's electricity meter will count the load consumed in my apartment?

It all depends on where the neutral conductors from two electricity meters are connected to one point.
Therefore, it is advisable to see the connection diagram of the connection you described, otherwise it is fortune telling on coffee grounds. If we assume that the connection point of two neutral conductors is located on the section from the apartment to the electricity meter, then theoretically, some models of old electricity meters will actually count the load differently. In this case, it is possible that part of the load current will flow through both your and the neighboring electric meter.

At the same time, the opposite situation , when a neighbor is consuming power and “part of his load may flow” through your electricity meter. This connection method is incorrect, so you can safely contact the management company with a request to remove the connection point. In modern electricity meters, the neutral conductor has little effect on the calculation for consumed electricity. Therefore, the readings of new electricity meters may not depend on the connection point you have identified.

If the neutral conductors are combined in the area behind the electricity metering devices to the common house panel (usually an ASU), then this is a normal connection method that in no way affects the result of electricity metering.

What to do and how to steal electricity: 4 ways

Next, a company employee carries out measuring work. Using an indicator screwdriver, all devices are checked. If, when the machine is turned off, a powered conductor or device is found and theft is established, this will be punishable by a huge fine.

There are several ways to influence the operation of the meter. But in most cases, you will need access to the electrical elements of the device. In older models, it was possible to change the polarity of the connection, due to which the counter began to spin in the opposite direction.

Procedure for calculating the fine

If, when checking the electric meter, it is revealed that a magnet has acted on it, the controller immediately records the violation and draws up a protocol. The Code of Offenses interprets such actions as causing property damage. The penalty for consuming electricity past the meter is quite severe - payment of the lost amount to electricity suppliers.

To determine the amount that can be fined, the following points are taken into account:

  • the date of appearance of the magnet on the electric meter is determined;
  • If it is impossible to determine the moment of appearance of the magnet, the calculated date is chosen for the last check of the device. If the meter is placed in an apartment and inspectors do not have access to it, you will have to pay a fine for the last 3 years - the statute of limitations.

After determining the installation date of the magnet, the unaccounted electricity is recalculated. To do this, all electrical consumers in the apartment are recalculated, and then the calculation is made using a special formula. The power of all lamps is multiplied by the average daily burning time - 8 hours, and the power of electrical appliances is multiplied by the number of hours in a day. General data is multiplied by the current tariff.

How electricity is stolen from a private home

How to calculate: to identify the fact of theft, open the meter and look at how the phase is connected. If everything inside the device is messed up, then the citizen is probably engaged in pure theft. True, nothing can be proven right away. Therefore, you should use a trick: forgive your neighbor his sin, while changing everything as required.

But consumers, wanting to save money, found a way out of this situation. A common method among people is to apply magnets made of neodymium alloy. The constant magnetic field of the alloy disrupts the operation of the meter motor, and this applies to both single-phase and three-phase models. Such magnets are simply placed on top of the counter, and you can buy them everywhere, even on the Internet.

Where to report for theft of electricity?

If you discover that electricity has been stolen in a private house or apartment, then first of all try to resolve the dispute peacefully on your own or with the participation of an experienced lawyer. If the guilty person denies his involvement in the crime, then he will have to make some efforts in order not to become the culprit of other people’s offenses:

The application and claim should indicate:

If several more people were injured, then you can draw up and file a collective complaint. In any situation, it is better to get advice from an experienced lawyer, and also use his services when completing and preparing a package of documents.

How to steal energy: 101 ways

Many methods of theft are implemented due to imperfections in the design of induction meters, such as the relative ease of influencing the meter disk and the possibility of shunting current circuits, changes in the switching circuit of secondary circuits, the absence of stopping or reversing devices in the counting mechanism, the narrow rated range of the meter for load current, non-metering half-wave or half-wave unbalanced load, the impact on the reliability of accounting for load current phase inversion.

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To steal electricity, some “masters” use an autotransformer with a power of 150–200 W with a voltage on the secondary winding from 3 to 15 V. Since the autotransformer allows you to regulate the input voltage, with this adjustment you can achieve almost any desired effect, including: rotating the counter disk in the opposite direction side, its stop or its slow rotation. It is extremely difficult to detect this method of theft even if there is a visible presence of an autotransformer in the circuit. The simplest and most effective way to steal electricity is considered to be mechanical action (especially for single-phase meters) by tilting the meter itself until the rotation of its disk completely stops. To do this, you just need to loosen the upper fastening of the meter to the panel, which does not present any difficulty, since the upper fastening of the meter (screw) has open access and is located outside the terminal box cover.

This way, neighbors can connect to your outlet. In order to check, you must turn off all circuit breakers. And using an indicator screwdriver, check the presence of voltage in each power device. There shouldn't be any tension.

One of the common methods of stealing electricity is the method in which the electric meter is unwinded; for this, the grounding from the device is connected to the heating system. It is important to understand that with such a connection, there is a high probability of electric shock to a person. Therefore, it is necessary to check the condition of the batteries.

How electricity is stolen from a private home

Another thing is that they are not on the wiring diagram and the wires going to them are redundant on junction boxes or sockets. The change of zero and phase can occur in another way. The phase is connected to zero, and the zero itself is disconnected and connected to ground. The counter stops ticking.

Many will wonder how this can be done, because electricity is not like water that can be poured into jars when it is free or very cheap. In fact, electricity can also be “poured” into cans. Rechargeable batteries will work here as a water can. Essentially, you need to get 12 Volt batteries, a charger and a voltage converter.

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