What happens if you cut lock off gas meter?

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asked May 12, 2022 in Other-Home/Garden by Higgonbottom (13,070 points)
What happens if you cut lock off gas meter?

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answered May 12, 2022 by BEngle (2,140 points)
If you cut the lock off your gas meter and turn your gas on yourself illegally then you can be charged with theft of natural gas which is theft of services.

You could get a fine of $1,000.00 or even be arrested and be sentenced to a year in county jail.

The same is true with electricity theft if caught.

To get the lock off your electric meter you'll have to cut the lock off or have the power company come and remove the lock.

If it's a tamper lock tag then you can use wire cutters to cut the tamper lock tag off and then put it back on and push the wire portion down into the tag to make it look like it was never cut.

To pull a smart meter you should put on thick rubber gloves and then cut the seal to the meter box.

Next make sure the loads of electricity are off in the house and then grab the electric meter and rock it back and forth while pulling hard on the electric meter.

The electric meter should come out but if not you may need to pull harder.

If you can't get the electric meter out yourself you can have the power company come out and pull the electric meter for you.

You can pull your own meter if you need to for emergencies or if you need to pull the meter for electrical work.

Although you should let your power company know because if you pull the smart electric meter the power company will know and send a tech out to investigate.

So it's best to let your power company know and they will even come out and pull your meter for you while you do work and then they will put it back in.

An electrician can cut a meter seal when performing work on the electric meter and electrical system.

Usually an electrician will tell the utility that they cut a meter seal and then they will come and reinstall the seal after the work is completed.

If you cut the tag on your electric meter and the utility finds out you may get a fine or be charged with meter tampering.

However if you needed to cut the tag off the electric meter box then nothing will usually happen.

If you have been shut off for non payment and cut the tag to bypass the meter then nothing will happen if you don't get caught.

If you get caught you could get charged electricity theft or at least back billed.

A yellow tag on an electric meter means they observed or encountered a condition that is not an immediate hazard, but has the potential of becoming one in the future.

The black tag on your house's electricity meter is a security device that lets your power company know whether the meter has been tampered with.

The tag is on the side or bottom of the meter's glass cover or metal panel.

You are not to cut, remove or modify the tag in any fashion.

You can cut the seal on your meter box if you need to remove the meter to do some work or you need to pull the meter in an emergency such as an electrical fire or other fire.

However if you cut the seal and don't report it to the power company they may assume you tried to tamper with your meter or are stealing electricity.

If you need the meter pulled you can have the power company come out to pull it for you which they will do when you need to do repairs to the electrical system.

Meter tampering is when you open your meter box and bypass the meter or pull the meter and then prevent it from registering any use of power.

Anything that alters the meter and prevents it from registering the amount of electricity you use is considered meter tampering.

External wiring modifications include swapping phase and neutral wires; disconnecting the neutral wire altogether; providing a return path via ground rather than neutral; and disconnecting one of the phase wires from the meter.

In some places meter tampering is a crime especially if you steal electricity although it's rare to get caught if you have been turned off for non payment and then bypass the meter socket.

However not everywhere makes meter tampering a crime and for the majority of places just tampering with your meter or meter box will not result in any crime being committed or any charges being committed.

I remember about 10 years ago I was unable to pay for my electric bill which was sky high and I needed my electricity so a few days after my electric got shut off I had the idea to open the meter box by cutting the seal and then placing 2 jumper wires between the lugs of the meter socket.

I owned the meter socket but the utility owned the meter.

I then continued paying back the electric bill until I got the account caught up within a year.

Then I removed the jumper wires and called the utility to come turn it back on after paying.

The utility never said anything to me about the seal being cut and just turned the power back on.

My neighbor is actually doing the same thing right now.

He had his electricity cut off last month due to non payment and a $600.00 electric bill owed so right after the electric utility guy left town he opened the meter box and ran a few jumper wires to get his electricity back on.

I won't say anything as he needs his electricity.

Although in some larger cities the utility sometimes goes around and sends people to look for electricity theft and meter tampering.

But in a smaller town or subdivision it's unlikely they would ever find out about the meter tampering or electricity theft.

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