Hotline of power engineering specialists:
Employees of IDGC of Centre - Belgorodenergo division, together with representatives of law enforcement agencies and the media, conducted a raid to identify facts of non-contractual and non-metered power consumption in the territory of Novooskolsky district. The check revealed four facts of unauthorized connection to the grid with a total volume of 13,430 kWh, the damage amounted to 36.79 thousand rubles.
Under the control of Novooskolsky power engineers there are 75 power lines, equipped with metering. To determine the level of losses and take timely steps to counter theft, experts regularly check the balance of supplied and paid electricity. Raids are conducted to check the so-called “problem” areas. According to the deputy chief of Novooskolsky Distribution Zone for the sale of services Alexander Zakharov, qualified specialists accurately determine whether there was any interference with the metering device or unauthorized connection to the grid by the consumer.
During the raid, the power engineers checked metering devices for consumers of individuals and legal entities suspected of violating the electricity consumption mode.
In the village of Vasilpolye, the raid participants found a house connected to a neighbor’s building before the meter in such a way that electricity went directly to the intruder. The condition of the artisanal connection did not correspond to any fire prevention measures, and there was one step to the disaster.
In the village of Borovka, the local “craftsman” for heating the house threw the wires directly onto the power line. The connection was also made in an artisanal way, which could lead to a fire, or endanger the lives of passersby.
Similar facts of non-contractual consumption were found in the villages of Velikomikhaylovka and Podvisnoye. In the first, the owner of the house connected to the 0.4 kV line by connecting to the wire of the line, in the second - to the input cable before the meter.
In all cases, non-metered consumption reports were drawn up, the amount stolen was recalculated, based on the cable capacity and the timing of the last check. All violators, caught red-handed, agreed with the facts of theft of electricity and will pay many times more than they managed to steal.
In one of the villages, the power engineers got interested in a sharp decrease in the energy consumption of a farm. A crew carefully checked and sealed the meter. This time, no violations were fixed, but the farm was put under control, and now it will be extremely difficult to change the meter readings in their favour - the antimagnetic seal with the sensitive element immediately signals intervention.
According to Alexander Zakharov, facts of illegal electricity consumption are found both in the private sector and at small business facilities, where, wanting to save on electricity bills, owners often intervene in metering systems, understating meter readings. Thus, in 2018, Belgorodenergo’s employees revealed 694 incidents of interference with the operation of metering devices and unauthorized connection to the grid with a total volume of 10 million kWh. The damage from illegal consumption of electricity exceeded 27 million rubles. In particular, in 2018, Novooskolsky district recorded 9 facts of non-metered and 28 facts of non-contractual consumption totalling 293,097 kWh for about 805,112.47 rubles.
Since last January, for individuals, the rules for calculating the amount of electricity consumed in violation of the current legislation have become much more stringent. Now, if the fact of interference with the metering device is established, the volume and cost of the stolen electricity is calculated on the basis of a standard approved by regional authorities using a multiplying factor of 10, and the calculation period can reach three months. The amount of payment can be tens or even hundreds of thousands of rubles, and if it comes to court, then, in addition to the cost of electricity, the citizen will have to reimburse court costs. So, it is much cheaper to comply with the law: to install the meter and pay for the consumed electricity according to the law.
Also, at the moment, at the level of the Government of the Russian Federation, amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses are being considered, increasing administrative responsibility for repeated unauthorized connection to infrastructure grids and unauthorized use of energy resources.
