I know it is kinda taboo among growers, but fuck it, I'm going to bring it up anyway. Has anyone every taped into the grid and bypassed the meter? I have a friend that say's hes very good at it. Just curious if it's even possible. Not that I'm going to do it, because that would be wrong. But ya know, just curious.
It is possible and easy in theory, but very difficult in reality. You CAN do it with an overhead service but they will see it if they open the meter and you'd have to either un additional conduit out of the meter (dead giveaway) or ram it in the existing conduit if its big enough, which is not good. Underground service it can be done where the meter would look normal if opened. They'd literally have to dig up their lines to know for sure it was being tapped off and not a damaged conductor inducing voltage to ground which would explain the lost power at your location.
You simply add an additional wire going into your house and connect them to the incoming lines, before they go through the meter, leaving the existing lines so the meter does read some usage. the current flowing though the new wires will not be read by the meter, but utilities can see it in their lines. there are some major hurdles - for one it has to be done live. You'll need balls and steady hands, or some arc flash gear, and/or insulated cable cutters. The lugs cannot fit a second set of wire in them, so you must cut the wire and add in a 3 set screw lug or something equivalent to split EACH wire 3 ways. Next issue - a tamper proof seal/tag utilities keep on the meters everywhere I've ever been. if you remove it, which you have to to open the meter hub, you are subject to a hefty fine which varies depending on location. And they will then be suspicious of you. They still come to physically read smart meters at least once annually and if they see the tag is gone or damaged they will most likely report it.
The problem with stealing power is you need to be stealing a lot for it to be worth the risk of fines and conviction. If it's enough to be worth it for you to steal, it's enough for utilities to a) notice the missing amount and b) investigate the cause. It it's a lot they will dig up their lines, say your stealing 2k a month that's $24,000 a year, costs them less to pay their workers (very well) to dig it up and replace the $300 worth of cable and then, oh wait jimtom, what do we have here? taps that bypass your meter going into your home, hrmmmm! I knew I smelled dank...