Charging your electric car using a power socket on someone else’s property might feel innocent, but it’s actually a criminal act.
If your electric car is desperately low on charge and you’re far from home, it might seem acceptable to plug it into any old wall socket for a quick top-up.
But beware – using someone else’s electricity and not paying for it is theft, according to laws in every Australian state.
A Polestar 2 driver in Western Australia recently learned this the hard way when they were fined $500 by WA Police for charging their car using an electricity box on a private block.
In sharing a photo of the offending car on social media, WA Police reminded electric car owners that it is illegal to recharge their vehicles anywhere other than at their home or at approved public charging stations.
“This particular situation a person was given a Criminal Code infringement notice for the offence of stealing which is a $500 fine,” a spokesperson for WA Police told Drive.
“This relates to any stealing incident, in this case, it just happened to be power for an electric car.”
This approach also applies in other states, which all have various legislation relating to electricity theft.
Under New South Wales’s Electricity Supply Act of 1995, it is an offence to ‘Divert/use electricity from a generating etc system without authority’.
“Typically, this covers people who re-route electricity from a powerbox to power their hydroponic drug houses,” a spokesperson for NSW Police told Drive.
“Diverting or using electricity from (someone else’s) power box to charge an electric vehicle would be dealt with under the same Act.
“The offence carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment at a Local Court level (which would cover the hydroponic house scenario), though is up to the discretion of the Court to determine the penalty – most likely a fine.”
A South Australia Police spokesperson agreed that using someone else’s power to charge your car without permission constitutes theft.
“The theft of electricity is simply that – theft,” the spokesperson told Drive.
“It is treated no differently here in SA than stealing items from a shop, stealing a bicycle or stealing water by bypassing a meter – they are all crimes of theft.
“There are no specific laws regarding stealing electricity to charge your car, it’s simply theft.”
Queensland’s Electricity Act states that “a person must not unlawfully take electricity”, and the offence could attract a maximum penalty of $143,750 or six months imprisonment.
“In the scenario of a person stealing electricity to charge their EV, Police can use their discretion to deal with the matter appropriately. Of course, the most important factor to consider is the risk to public safety,” a spokesperson for Queensland’s Department of Energy and Works told Drive.
“There are also a number of other potential factors that would need to be considered. These may include: if there were circumstances of aggravation and also the value of what was stolen. Taking everything into account, Police may choose to formally charge an offender under the Queensland Criminal Code, or issue a fine under another statute.
“If the victim was a local council, local by-laws or regulations would likely be the best instruments to deal with the offence.
“The simple advice to anyone thinking about stealing anything at any time is simply: don’t do it!”
Victoria’s laws are slightly harder to ascertain, with representatives for Victoria Police, the Department of Transport, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action unable to cite specific codes or penalties.
However, it’s likely the behaviour would also be deemed a theft in Victoria, with any associated penalties at the discretion of relevant law enforcement.
A section in Tasmania’s Criminal Code also cautions that “any person who dishonestly or wantonly abstracts, takes, uses, diverts, or causes to be diverted or wasted, any electricity or electric current the property of any other person, is deemed to steal the same”.
Similarly, the Northern Territory’s Electricity Reform Act 2000 includes stealing and tampering offences for safety reasons.
“The supply of electricity is an essential service and any deliberate interference with supply could have catastrophic or even deadly outcomes. The deliberate diversion of electricity is theft as well as creating an electrical safety risk,” NT WorkSafe’s website states.
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