Found an electric power thief on Earth Day!

[elfin]

Am in my back wild area pulling garlic mustard and out from a high voltage pole I spy a long orange extension cord going from the bottom of the pole to somewhere on the house behind my lot.

Can't think of any other reason for it to be there. Electric company supposedly on its way - they agree it should NOT be there.

Ratting out neighbors is always interesting. My wild area was full of pop and beer cans and booze bottles - I think their kids use it to hide out and drink when I am gone during the summer -- so I don't feel bad at all squealing.

[hexola]

1. In college we theived power from the neighboors...

The house next to us was un-occupied for several months one summer...

We ran an orange cord to their porch outlet...

Just making coffee...not running the whole house or anything...

Took off for Dead tour and left the damn thing plugged in!!!

The landlord was pissed - but since we didnt really live at the house...and the tennants were all home for the summer...he couldn't figure out who to blame...

Pretty dumb thing to do, in retrospect.

[MADem]

2. Uh, oh!!!!! Don't neglect to give us the "rest of the story!!!"

Aside from the fact that it is a crummy thing to do, it's also DANGEROUS. Imagine if some dog or coyote came along and chomped on that cord, and started a fire that burnt out all that wild area, and a house or two in the process....

[elfin]

3. My thoughts exactly

Wish they would get here soon before said neighbors see me out there and dispose of the evidence - maybe will go out and take pic if I figure they are not at home.

[MADem]

4. Do you have a subject for your photo? You could grab a little kid

and pose them adorably, and that might allay suspicion. Then surreptitiously take the shot of the offending wire! Or better still, a bit of video--that zoom feature might enable you to get a close up of where that wire is going, from a distance!

[Porcupine]

5. That's a tiny drop on some of the scams i've seen

I have seen at least five places where a property was rented out and the owner of the property had wired the place so that the tenant was paying part or all of somebody elses electrical bill.

In several of these cases the tenants were paying for the well and AC power for three residences and couldn't figure out why their electrical bill was hundreds of dollars a month. It's very simple to figure out. Simply turn off the main breaker and watch for which of your neighbors pops his head up.

The worst was one incident where somebody trying to steal power screwed up and wired a neutral line to a hot wire. He turned regular outlets into 220 voltage that fried anything that was plugged in.

I do hate power thieves.

[hexola]

6. I'm convinced my apartment is wired wrong...

We have fewer computers and appliances that last year...and we are using more electicity...

Two of my outlets arent on my line...I DONT USE THEM...So safe to assume some other outlets are on my circuit...

Moving to a new house soon - so I wont raise a ruckus until I move...