Power companies try to pull plug on electricity thieves

• Source: Global Times
• [09:14 November 20 2009]
• Comments

"Some practices are dangerous. Thieves are likely to be electrocuted by voltage and current if they attempt to alter or insert components into the meters," he said.

Electricity theft in China has declined after power supply authorities improved techniques with upgraded meters.

The State Grid Corporation of China, the largest electric power transmission and distribution company in China, launched a three-month campaign in August to combat the problem.

"I've rarely heard of electricity theft in the past two years because of strict controls by power companies and the use of sophisticated meters," Guo Yongbin, a resident in Shaoyang, Hunan Province told the Global Times.

However, in rural areas, electricity theft is still common.

Zhang Qiang, a resident of Jinghai county, Tianjin told the Global Times that he was aware of some neighbors who steal electricity.

Use of electricity-gobbling appliances, including refrigerators, is one reason some steal.

"In the past, they stole electricity because of high electric rates but now they steal it because of increased power use, such as electric heaters and refrigerators," he said.

Guangzhou authorities busted the largest case of electricity theft this year. A prop-erty company stole more than 500,000 kilowatt hours about 450,000 yuan ($65,856), the fees charged for commercial use.

Song Shengxia and Liang Chen contributed to this story