In Cape Coral and Fort Myers, residents are tampering with their meter to recieve free electric. The electric company has estimated around $17,742 of stolen electric a month. The residents responsible for stealing the electric are being billed for the balance due before electric can be turned on.
A person caught stealing can face misdemeanor or felony charges and spend time in jail or prison, depending on the extent of the theft. Also under civil theft laws, they are responsible for paying three times as much in damages for meter tampering.
When a meter is tampered with, an electrician has to go out to the house and repair the damages done to the equipment and investigations are done.
As a result of electricity theft, if it continues, the company will have no choice but to raise the rates for everyone else to compensate for the money lost.
http://www.news-press.com/article/20090819/CRIME/90818073
I feel that just because one person steals, doesn't mean that everyone has to suffer. I can also see where the electric company is coming from because they have lost a lot of money and they continue to lose more money every day. There are so many people out there stealing that it is hard to catch everyone. Times are tough right now for everyone and it's not going to help us at all if the rates get raised.
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