Electricity theft will be considered a “more serious” offence under new sentencing guidelines. They include specific advice for judges and magistrates passing sentence for illegal abstraction of electricity for the first time as it presents an “obvious danger of injury to the public”. The new guidelines published by the Sentencing Council aims to provide a […]

The world is losing nearly $90 billion (£57bn) to electricity theft every year, according to new research. The top 50 emerging markets lose $58.7 billion (£37.4bn) a year while the rest of the world see losses of around $30.6 billion (£19.5bn). The report from smart market analysts Northeast Group found reducing theft in the 50 […]

New rules kick in from the summer to force energy suppliers to clamp down on electricity theft. Ofgem said electricity theft is unsafe, leads to higher prices for customers and has links to organised crime such as cannabis growing. But the regulator believes existing rules are “insufficient” to tackle the problem. In a letter to […]

Farmers growing cannabis in the UK aren’t dope with suppliers – they’ve been nicking electricity from suppliers to power their plant hothouses. Up to one third of the electricity stolen each year goes towards powering cannabis farms according to figures from suppliers which is why the regulator Ofgem today put forward new rules for energy […]