Arrest for theft of 5 cents of electricity

public facilities are not individually own but communal property - so an individual needs permission from the community to use communal property. The Leaf owner intentional took communal property in the form of electricity without permission from the school/community - while ever so small ( we know this because the police officer was called to investigate by someone at the school) - so hence the Leaf owner intentionally stole electricity from the school. As a taxpayer and part of the community the Leaf owner could have gotten permission to recharge his BEV at the school beforehand in a prearranged agreement (being unable to contact the proper authorities for permission at that particular time does not eliminate this requirement) -- but the Leaf owner didn't get permission. For example, a parent of a student can get a school parking permit for the family car so it can park in the school's parking lot during school hours OR the school can provide a limited free parking space for parents during school activities/events - like a football game. When I was going to public school - vehicles parked at the school during school hours without a school's parking permit would be subject to a parking ticket AND OR the vehicle would be towed away at the owner's expense.

Public Places are resources that need laws to protect them from abuse and to make them sustainable, Law enforcement to oversee and regulate their usage, and an engaged judicial and criminal system to insure that the laws and rules are enforced humanely and justly. Unless, an alleged trespasser has been suspected of committing some mischief or damage to property - a law enforcement agent is not likely to arrest the trespasser because of all the paper work and effort it requires -- it is so much easier for the police officer to get the alleged trespasser to move along -- so the arrest of the Leaf owner suggest something went badly between the police officer and the Leaf owner when the police officer finally met and confronted the Leaf owner.

The Leaf owner's infractions are minor but he still needs to know what he did was wrong and he needs to convince the rest of the community that he won't be taking electricity from the school without permission again. I don't think that's too much to ask.... unless the fellow is stubborn and self righteous. I'd give him community time - maybe to make a poster or a commercial about not stealing electricity from the school??

A minor infraction like this shouldn't put the Leaf owner in Georgia' state pen's chain gang.
If the fellow is not emotionally out of shape from this incident, he should try to do it the right way and ask and get permission ahead of time to charge his Leaf at the school - anyway -- it is just good manners to ask permission.

 

'Theft of power' lands electric-car driver in jail - U.S. News

This really concerns me. If this person were to have walked to the bathroom, turned on the lights, washed his hands, and used a hot air hand dryer the cost may have been more than charging his car. But yet we take for granted that most public places offer basics like heat, lights, and bathrooms, which cost much more. Will people need to label outdoor outlets as being for or not for EV charging? Will it become standard to intall indoor shut off switches to keep EV charging from happening at outlets we don't want charging to happen?
If you don't have your yard fenced & marked as no tresspassing can you keep people from cutting through your yard, probably not. So are outdoor unlabbeled outlets fair game to be used like taking a short cut through the neighbors yard? Possibly not in Georgia....

 

Baloney.

The plug-in car charge will typically be 100 to 1000 times more expensive than the typical hot air hand dry. (Numerous recreational facilities around here use cold air hand dryers.) Bathroom lights should be much less costly than the hot air dryer.

 

If it is not yours and you do not have permission, it is stealing.
Are we still paying for Dr Spock or do certain socioeconomic groups just feel entitled to do what ever they want.

 

Most hot air hand dryers in our area are 4400W. The outlet he was plugged into would have been level 1 charging, 1000W. So for equal amount of time the hand dryer uses 4 times more electricity.

The concept of EVs is dead if its going to become a criminal act to plug in your car into the same outlet I'm sure has been used to charge cellphones, tablets and even laptop computers for free.

Should leaving computers on overnight in schools become a criminal act since the desktop computer will be 15hrs X 200W or 3000 W/hr? This driver used 0.33hrs X 1000 W or 333W/hr. I wonder how many of the staff leave things running over night that consume 300W/hrs in just one night? One 22W fluorescent bulb over night is more than he used charging his car for 20 minutes.
If a student uses a hair dryer for 20 minutes after basketball practice should they be arrested?
Nope, unless labelled as for staff use only or something similar, electrical outets are there for anyone to use anytime. Don't like it, post a sign or install a cut off switch.
Otherwise the next time you need to charge you phone, tablet or laptop somewhere other than at home, expect to be arrested & put in jail.

 

It is not the amount of power that is consumed.
The example your are given is that the energy is used at the facility and that is a given.
But when when you take energy away for you own use, that is stealing.
This is not different from taken the toilet tissue roll from the school bath room and use it at your own home.
This is theft.

 

It concerns me too.
A lot!

How can a movement (EV) that has the potential to be a force for positive change be so tragically myopic about the ethics of stealing electricity?
I don't have a sign on my gas door saying: "Do not steal my gas!"
I don't NEED a sign on my exterior A/C outlets saying "Do not steal my electricity!!"
My company does not have locks on their exterior A/C outlets.
Does this mean that there are actually people that are self-entitled enough to think that they can just plug their cars into one of these outlets whenever they need a charge?

How can a community of self-styled forward thinkers be so blind to an ethical question that's so very easy to answer?

It's simple!
And.....it will WORK!

When I started tinkering with buying an EV, I popped a flare over my bosses desk advising him of my intentions. I made my case respectfully and pointed out the PR upside, and I also mentioned the fact that since I'm responsible for the physical plant in my office, I've already done the noodle dance for an exterior GFI circuit.
After all.
We run refrigerators and coffee messes 24/7.

I have written permission.
That means it's 100-percent legal.

No matter how little it costs and how just your cause?
Taking electricity without permission is stealing!
Moreover?
It's only going to take one or two cases like this, or some sniveling, self righteous Jackwagon to start a fire or lift a breaker and cause an electrical outtage before the EV community has the same kind of PR problem enjoyed by Senator Edwards...and for much the same reason.

 

Then you better leave your cellphone charger at home since by your definiton there is no legal place other than at home. Too bad if your cellphone dies at the airport....

 

Charging the cell phone at the airport is legal as your have paid the used tax to use the airport facility when you bought the ticket..

 

In my opinion, the main problem with EVs is when you run out of power you can't just call someone to bring you a 5 gallon can of gas. You either bring a portable charging source to the EV or get it towed to where it can be charged. So until there are level 2 or higher charging stations as close together and common as cellphone towers, providing almost nationwide coverage EV drivers are going to find themselves asking for permission, and risking "no" as the answer, or begging for forgiveness to avoid being left stranded on the side of the road with a dead battery.

For those who believe he was "stealing" electricity should plan to walk into the school carry a flashlight and not expect any lighting, plumbing or heating in the building. If you expect those things without written permission to have them for you to use then you really need to look at how in our technology society that same thing doesn't carry over to other resources. Now if he had went into laundry room, unplugged a clothes dryer and rigged up a level 2 charger and feed the cord out the window, well then he was tampering with areas not open to the public and doing it with intent. That would be crossing the line.

Ok then tell your kids to leave any cellphone, tablet or laptop chargers at home because outlets at schools are for staff only.

 

Some school will not allow cell use by student. When the class requires laptop use, they can be plugin as permitted by the teacher.
You argument is one sided and not valid.

 

Don't plug your camcorder in either while recording a school play, concert or sporting event.....
I was recently at a 6 hour baskeball event. A simple 30W charger would take 180W/Hrs of power for that event.
Nope once you tell EVs they can't use any outlets without permission then you open the door to everyone else and every other electrical device that people need an outlet for....

As you said, some schools..... My point is they don't arrest the kids if they are caught charging there cellphone over the lunch hour or during a sports practice do they? As many people have said here it isn't the amount of electricity consumed well then if that is where society is going then all use of any type of electricity we don't directly pay for or have written permission to use falls in this same category.
Look at the big picture and precedent this type of discussion could lead to. Once you single out EVs as one group then what is the next group that gets arrested for plugging something in to the closest outlet they can find?

 

They do not get arrested but they got their cell phones confiscated.

 

Range anxiety - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PPPPPPP
or....you could just pay your own way.
If you're hungry?
You don't go into a restaurant and demand free food....or try to take it when somebody isn't looking.
Well....at least not where I live.
If you ask permission it isn't stealing. If you buy it? It isn't stealing.
If you take it without permission? It's stealing.

Ever hear of a place called Newtown?
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You don't just walk into schools these days, with or without a flashlight.
Or.....if you're like the moron that this discussion is about?
(I read the article. He's a moron!)
Then yeah, I guess you do, but you'll be in the paper just like he was.
Spoiler Alert: None of the school systems here will let their students charge phones, computers, razors, RV planes, tablets, TV's, or cars without getting permission, and....
Spoiler Alert: They probably won't get permission. Just like the moron that this discussion is about didn't.
Most classrooms do not allow cell phones or tabs to be used during class.
Not yet, anyway.
They have this daffy idea that you're supposed to talk on the phone outside the class.

PHEV's have been out for a few years now. This isn't emerging technology.
In the case of the pip, you're not talking about plugging in a cell phone for a quick charge, but rather you're hanging something like a 12a load onto an electrical circuit that may or may not have other loads and may or may not be GFI protected, and ISN'T yours to begin with!

I just don't see very much grey area here....but I live in a place where you can pretty much leave your car unlocked.
We just don't have a bunch of folks in these parts that think that if something isn't locked up, then it's free for the taking.


...not yet anyway!


Merry Christmas!

 

Your math is way off.

My quick search is finding 1300-1600W (Dyson Airblades), 1375-1520 (Xlerator), 1500W (eXtreme Air), 540W (eXtreme Air no-heat version). Depending on model, claimed drying time is 10 to 15 seconds. That means these dryers will typically use on the order of 0.006kWh. (I was figuring twice as much, 30 seconds, at my previous reply).

A Leaf at Level 1 appears to pull essentially the same power, 1400W. But for far longer, consuming far more energy.

0.006kWh won't get any plugin car very far, barely even out of the parking lot. A typical PiP charge will be over 1.000 kWh. Leaf and Volt will take far more.

Check also the legal concept of de mininis that I linked earlier. Recharging of hand-held devices can easily be dismissed under this concept. A plug-in car takes 2 to 3 orders of magnitude more energy, so cannot automatically be dismissed.

 

Ok, so this person decides to use my home Tennis Court after being told not to...again. Now they come back and use it anyway and while they there decides to plug their car into my home outlet to charge their car. So a neighbor calls 911, the Police show to investigate and the person cops an attitude, then it takes 11 days for the man to be arrested.

As the property owner I would be furious at the perpetrator and the police. The perpetrator for trespassing on my property and stealing, the police for not arresting him on the spot. I speculate had perpetrator been poor and/or of color, rather than some well off white guy playing tennis, that would not have been the case.

Get real people.

 

Perhaps. The "rule" is real simple. If it is a public place and there are official EV charging stations then you may charge for free and/or with the posted cost via the service. If you see a conventional 110v outlet in a public space that is right next to a parking space and there is no EV signage, then you should ask someone. If it is a workplace (not generally open to the public) then you should probably also ask, but situations might vary.

Mike

 

If it is not yours and you do not have permission, it is stealing. Period.

 

Fascinating, if not heated discussion. My opinion is that this is a gray area, and the safest thing to do in gray areas is ASK PERMISSION. A lot of this is unchartered territory. There is already a lot of misunderstanding from some ICE drivers who may not look favorably at BEVs/PHEVs, so giving them excuses to see us as entitled and arrogant is less than desirable.

Lots of people have brought up great points I thought were relevant:

Public/Community Resources
The public pays taxes for these community resources, but that does not entitle an individual to directly manage how that property is used, including granting access to himself as he pleases. One is not entitled to plug his BEV/PHEV into a school’s parking lot simply because he pays property taxes that go to the school.

Expectations/Reasonable Use
Schools belong to the community, but there are expectations and rules as to who has access to the facilities, at what times, and what resources on the schools are open to the public. So it may be an established practice that a school may be okay with the public using the restroom facilities afterschool if the tennis courts are open. This does not, however, automatically carry over to mean one’s BEV/PHEV is open to parking lot electrical outlets.

Infrastructure Capabilities
Many parking lot electrical outlets may not be designed or able to handle the amperage requirements of one or more BEV/PHEV charging.

De Minimis Acts
Lesser acts of appropriating miniscule amounts of electricity for oneself from public, corporate or other property is often ignored by the law. For example, plugging your cellphone into an outlet on a mall’s property results in the unauthorized taking of a very small amount of electricity (perhaps less than a penny). The mall would almost certainly never ask for police intervention. In fact, this unauthorized behavior is probably well tolerated since it may encourage patrons to spend more time and money shopping there. Plugging one’s BEV/PHEV into a school’s parking lot outlet probably is not so closely a de minimis act.

Appeal to Common Practice
It’s the “everyone is doing it, so it’s okay” argument. Many do things that may be technically illegal like cutting through a school parking lot afterhours as a shortcut to go home. It may technically be illegal, but no one is harmed, and a cop would almost certainly not waste his time on this. Charging one’s BEV/PHEV on a school parking lot without permission is not common practice at this point.

Cost
One person charging for a few minutes on a school’s property is a tiny amount of money, but if this were routine or common practice among BEV/PHEV drivers, it would have very real and measurable costs.