Is Someone Jumping You? What You Need to Know about Electricity Predators

With inflation and increasing power demand, electricity bills are soaring and urging us to tighten our belts and hustle at a rapid pace. Times are hard, but something may just be making them harder – electricity jumpers.

What is an electricity jumper?

Jumpers are illegal electric connections where the electrical circuit of someone’s home is attached to a grid without a meter. This phenomenon is prevalent in class C, D, and informal settler households. Low-income households are often hit hardest by financial instability, but instead of working smarter and harder, they shortcut their upward mobility by turning into parasites that suck the electricity supply of hardworking households.

Although some households may be doing this out of desperation to survive, nothing can justify this act and is considered a crime according to R.A. 7832.

Republic Act No. 7832 

Republic Act No. 7832 is “An act penalizing the pilferage of electricity and theft of electric power transmission lines/materials, rationalizing system losses by phasing out pilferage losses as a component thereof, and for other purposes”, according to the constitution.

How do I know if I’m being jumped?

Vigilance is key in keeping your power sources away from pilferers. The most glaring sign of a jumper is an unusually high electricity bill that does not match the power usage of your household. Other signs may include brownouts, shocks from switches and overheated appliances burning. The most dangerous sign of pilfering is exposed wires heating and catching fire, leading to explosions and sudden fires.

Here is the list of prima facie evidence of electric pilferage according to R.A. 7832:

(a) The presence of any of the following circumstances shall constitute prima facie evidence of illegal use of electricity, as defined in this Act, by the person benefitted thereby, and shall be the basis for: (1) the immediate disconnection by the electric utility to such person after due notice, (2) the holding of a preliminary investigation by the prosecutor and the subsequent filing in court of the pertinent information, and (3) the lifting of any temporary restraining order or injunction which may have been issued against a private electric utility or rural electric cooperative:

(i) The presence of a bored hole on the glass cover of the electric meter, or at the back or any other part of said meter;

(ii) The presence inside the electric meter of salt, sugar and other elements that could result in the inaccurate registration of the meter’s internal parts to prevent its accurate registration of consumption of electricity;

(iii) The existence of any wiring connection which affects the normal operation or registration of the electric meter;

(iv) The presence of a tampered, broken, or fake seal on the meter, or mutilated, altered or tampered meter recording chart or graph, or computerized chart, graph, or log;

(v) The presence in any part of the building or its premises which is subject to the control of the consumer or on the electric meter, of a current reversing transformer, jumper, shorting and/or shunting wire, and/or loop connection or any other similar device;

(vi) The mutilation, alteration, reconnection, disconnection, bypassing or tampering of instruments, transformers, and accessories;

(vii) The destruction of, or attempt to destroy, any integral accessory of the metering device box which encases an electric meter, or its metering accessories; and

(viii) The acceptance of money and/or other valuable consideration by any officer of employee of the electric utility concerned or the making of such an offer to any such officer or employee for not reporting the presence of any of the circumstances enumerated in subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), or (vii) hereof: Provided, however, That the discovery of any of the foregoing circumstances, in order to constitute prima facie evidence, must be personally witnessed and attested to by an officer of the law or a duly authorized representative of the Energy Regulatory Board (ERB).

What to do if you are a victim    

According to R.A. No. 7832’s Section 5 on Incentives, a reward of PHP5,000 will be given to those who report the crime of jumping. Witnesses must report the crime to the National Power Corporation (NPC) or police authorities to receive the reward in 30 days.

If you notice the signs of pilfering in your household or another’s, report it to your electricity provider right away. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) mandates recoverable losses for electric utilities by up to 8.5%.

However, as programs by the government and utility companies to protect victims are still in development, it is in the best interest of every household to be proactive in guarding against electricity theft. You can take measures to protecting your electricity supply, such as installing a tamper-proof meter box, analyzing your electricity bills, and budgeting your energy usage per appliance.

As the Philippines takes greater strides toward energy security, it is important to educate your household members and community about the risks and signs of electricity pilferage, and advocate for the public and private sectors to implement community awareness programs about the dangers of jumping to prevent more cases.