Fines and consequences of stealing electricity or tampering with the meter
“Hooking up the electricity meter”, “tapping into” electricity from another supply without having a meter, or tampering with the meter can be very costly.
We know that neither the arrival of winter nor the constant increases in electricity prices help —which, by the way, do not affect you at Holaluz—. However, we want to remind you that committing fraud is by no means the best solution. Questions around whether you can place the electricity meter inside your home, what “tampering” means and its implications, or how many warnings there are before the electricity is cut off are issues that should be resolved legally. You should also know that the penalty for stealing electricity can include significant financial fines or even more serious legal action. Today, we explain the fines and other consequences of committing electricity fraud.
What types of electricity fraud exist and what are their consequences?
These are the two most common types of fraud we can find in relation to electricity supply:
- Illegal connection to the external grid or to another consumer’s installation. This is also known as “tapping into electricity”. This type of practice clearly constitutes electricity fraud and is a criminal offence under the Penal Code.
- Tampering with the electricity meter or other parts of measuring and control equipment —ICP, maximum demand meters, timers, etc.—. In general, all digital meters are sealed, and removing that seal means breaking the law. If you have bought a property with a meter that was tampered with by the previous owner, you could face legal responsibilities. The only people authorised to manipulate the meter are the technicians from the local distribution company. You should know that, apart from pressing the button or buttons that allow you to view your reading or browse through the options, any other intervention may be considered illegal.
Consequences of tampering with the electricity meter or stealing electricity
Both tampering with the electricity meter and tapping into or stealing electricity carry a financial penalty, just like a fine for tampering with a gas meter, water meter or even an electricity meter. In addition, these actions could lead to the immediate interruption of the electricity supply by the local electricity distribution company, especially if irregularities are detected during an electricity meter inspection.
In all cases, the person responsible is the holder of the electricity supply contract, even when it cannot be proven that they committed the offence. For example, if you inherit a tampered meter, you could face penalties even if you were not the person who committed the fraud. In other words, in some cases, the innocent pay for the guilty.
Fines for tampering with the electricity meter can reach 1,000 or 2,000 euros, and the way they are calculated is set out in Article 255 of Organic Law 15/2003:
Article 255. Wording according to Organic Law 15/2003, of 25 November.
Anyone who commits fraud worth more than 400 euros by using electricity, gas, water, telecommunications or any other element, energy or fluid belonging to another person, by any of the following means, shall be punished with a fine of three to twelve months:
- Using mechanisms installed to commit the fraud.
- Maliciously altering the readings or electricity meters.
- Using any other clandestine means.
Normally, and although, as people often say, every case is different, for an average domestic consumer the distribution company —the owner of the installation— usually calculates the fine for illegally connecting the meter by estimating electricity consumption of around 6 hours a day for one year. Taking, for example, a contracted power of 5.75 kW —the power that was contracted or should have been contracted— x 6 hours of use and 365 days, we get a consumption of 12,592.5 kWh. At an average price of €0.125/kWh —in access tariff 2.0, less than 10 kW— this would result in a fine of around €1,500. The distribution company would send this calculation to our electricity supplier, which would then invoice us for the fine according to the terms of our contract, if there is one.
This calculation will apply whenever it is not possible to carry out what is known as an objective calculation, that is, when the distribution company has specific objective data to calculate the fine —power, duration of the fraud, etc.—. This regulation is included in the BOE, as detailed below:
Royal Decree 1955/2000, of 1 December, regulating the activities of transport, distribution, commercialisation, supply and authorisation procedures for electricity installations.
Article 87: If there is no objective criterion for issuing the billing in these cases, the distribution company shall issue it by billing an amount corresponding to the product of the contracted power, or the power that should have been contracted, multiplied by six hours of daily use for one year, without prejudice to any criminal or civil actions that may be brought.
To this, we would also have to add the costs of reconnecting the electricity supply if the distribution company decided to disconnect it.
False accusations of tampering with the electricity meter
Sometimes, without any evidence, some electricity companies have accused customers of tapping into electricity when this was not true and without checking anything. This can raise questions, such as whether it is legal for your electricity to be cut off without warning in this type of situation.
And they have not only accused them, but also filed complaints with the intention of collecting the fine, creating cases that can be quite complex to resolve. Faced with these problems, it is important to know what happens if my electricity is cut off and I reconnect it myself, as you could face additional penalties. In these cases, the best thing to do is to go directly to the relevant Industry and/or Consumer Affairs authorities and provide as much information and documentation as possible.
Scams related to tampering with the electricity meter
Some time ago, several arrests were made of people who were scamming others by tampering with digital meters. In doing so, they committed one fraud by falsifying another.
It worked more or less like this: they acted in pairs, so that one of them managed to convince the victim that their consumption would be reduced by changing electricity company, before sending a second person who posed as a technician from the new supplier. The fake technician removed the seal from the electricity meter, tampered with it and replaced it without any identification. For all this, they charged between 400 and 600 euros. And, like this one, there are several similar scams.
Fraud does not harm electricity companies
Finally, it is worth remembering that part of the electricity bill is used to cover grid losses. These can occur accidentally during the transport of electricity and also include the difference between the energy demanded by consumers and the energy generated in anticipation of legally registered supplies.
This means that if you commit fraud or steal electricity, you are not harming electricity companies, but rather the users of the service who do pay their bills without committing any fraud. These people may see an increase in the part of their electricity bill allocated to losses.
At Holaluz, you will find a personalised fee tailored to your needs.
Calculate your fee hereOn top of all this, there is the risk of damaging or disabling the electrical installation while tampering with it, or of suffering an accident. Therefore, the most sensible thing to do is to use other methods to save electricity.
How to save on your electricity bill legally
If you want to save on your electricity bill, there are legal, safe and effective measures, such as choosing fixed prices —which do not change whether it rains, snows or shines—, reviewing your contracted power and looking at how you consume electricity in order to choose the electricity tariff that best suits you.
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