Utilities Section
Newsletter League of Nebraska Municipalities
February 2025
Messing with the meter: What to do? By Lash Chaffin, Utilities Section Director A common frustration of municipal natural gas, electric, and water departments is what to do when someone seems to be tampering with the meter, or even stealing utility services. What type of information does a utility need to collect to make a legal conviction viable? Nebraska law lays out a very clear outline of how a utility can collect information to pass on to the municipal attorney to handle meter tampering and service diversion. There are two concurrent paths that the utility needs to take: First, the utility needs to consider how they want to punish the customer. This is the “criminal” action that a utility will want to pursue. Second, the utility needs to consider how to make the customer pay for the stolen services and infrastructure damage done to the utility. This is the “civil” action that a utility will want to pursue. Criminal Action. Theft of services or causing destruction to a meter is a Class III misdemeanor in Nebraska and can result in up to three months imprisonment and a $500 fine. There are two Nebraska statutes that a municipality can use to prosecute a customer for theft of services or meter damage. The primary statute is Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-515.02. A municipality also could use Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-515, 206 S 13th Street, Suite 800 Lincoln, NE 68508 (402) 476-2829 Fax (402) 476-7052
but 28-515.02 is more specific to municipal infrastructure. Neb. Rev. Stat. 28.515.02 provides (with emphasis added): (1) It is unlawful for any person: (a) To connect any instrument, device, or contrivance with any wire supplying or intended to supply electricity or electric current or to connect any pipe or conduit supplying gas or water, without the knowledge and consent of the supplier of such products, in such manner that any portion thereof may be supplied to any instrument by or at which electricity, electric current, gas, or water may be consumed without passing through the meter made or provided for measuring or registering the amount or quantity thereof passing through it; (b) To knowingly use or knowingly permit the use of electricity, electric current, gas, or water obtained unlawfully pursuant to this section; (c) To reconnect electrical, gas, or water service without the knowledge and consent of the supplier of such service if the service has been disconnected pursuant to Sections 70-1601 to 70-1615; or (d) To willfully injure, alter, or by any instrument, device, or contrivance in any manner interfere with or obstruct the action or operation of any meter
made or provided for measuring or registering the amount or quantity of electricity, electric current, gas, or water passing through it, without the knowledge and consent of the supplier of the electricity, electric current, gas, or water passing or intended to pass through such meter. Note that the law makes it illegal to actually connect a wire to the meter. You do not necessarily need to prove that the customer actually successfully stole the electricity. So, pictures of a meter with wires etc., can be sufficient to result in criminal prosecution. Civil Action. In addition to punishment, a utility needs to make sure that they get compensated for the theft and the damage. Nebraska law is quite favorable to the municipality. If your municipal attorney is not aware of this law, please have them contact the League office. Civil action statutes concerning theft of service are located at Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-21,275 Continued on page 2 Lash Chaffin Utilities Section Director Jackson Sash Utilities Field Representative