On Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:42:57 -0700, Howard
wrote:

Don't discount those plastic meter seals too fast. My utility used

I was only saying that for the benefit of the OP, who might not notice
tampering when he was looking around.

But even though I said Don't Ask Me, I'll tell you how I know that.
It was only because I had my electricity disconnected for non-payment
(had the money, just didn't have the energy) and after I had actually
paid the bill, in Baltimore one has to be home when the guy comes to
reconnect. Or it was the end of the day and I wasn't sure he was
returning. So U took off the tag and reconnected it myself. I was
depressed and reckless.

He did come back that evening, maybe around 6, and I told him someone
else had been there and reconnected it, but something he said led me
to conclude he was the only with that job in my area, and he knew no
one from the electric co. had been there.

them for years. We also paid the meter readers a bounty for each
broken seal they found. That's why they tugged just about every
plastic seal each time they read the meter. Each broken seal was

If he had wanted to, what would they have done to me? I didn't steal
any electricity, just took off the plastic shields.

What he actually did was put a good tag on and leave. I'm sure he
knew why my power was out, and gradually I realized he knew what I had
done.

reported and our security team checked them out. Best catch was a
motel at the seashore. We had to put in a second meter (up on the
pole in a fake transformer can) to catch them red handed. Fines,
interest, penalties, costs of the investigation and of course all the
stolen energy.