Energy theft

Electricity and natural gas theft are major safety concerns for the general public and our employees and increase customer costs.

We’re putting energy thieves on notice in collaboration with BC Crime Stoppers. Crime Stoppers shares anonymous information related to energy theft directly with FortisBC investigators. This can help you protect your neighbourhood and gives us greater access to more timely information, so we can better identify and investigate possible instances of energy theft.

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Protect yourself, your property and your neighbours

Energy theft generally involves finding ways to consume energy while bypassing a meter, so that it can’t be accurately measured, recorded or paid for. Energy theft can damage equipment and cause power outages and safety risks.

If you suspect energy theft, report it to FortisBC at 1-866-550-5444 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or leave a secure tip online.

Why stealing natural gas and electricity is a problem

The cost of stealing electricity and natural gas is paid for by all customers.

Many, but not all, incidents of gas and electricity theft are related to illegal operations and are difficult to detect. What is usually reported to Crime Stoppers are probable indicators of criminal activity or drug labs.

Dangers of energy theft

Tampering with meters or installing bypasses are major dangers to the public and our employees:

  • Illegal connections to the gas or electricity system are never safe, as they haven’t been installed by qualified professionals.
  • In emergency situations such as fires, power lines or gas lines that have been compromised by theft may stay on even when emergency responders think they’ve been shut off.
  • FortisBC employees who work on the electricity and natural gas system are at risk of injury from meter tampering and energy theft.