By PSC Chair Charlotte Lane
The Public Service Commission of West Virginia wants you to know that damaging a fire hydrant anywhere in this state is illegal, as is taking water from a water system without paying for it.
Ultimately, when a utility’s service is diverted to an unauthorized person’s usage, the public ends up paying the bill.
It is as illegal to steal the electricity from a line as it would be to steal the copper wire through which that power is carried.
Unfortunately, these types of activities have been occurring in our state.
A case of this nature was recently brought to my attention by House of Delegates member Charles Sheedy, whose district includes most of Marshall County and northern Wetzel.
Our Commission has jurisdiction over many water systems and all public service districts in this state. The Legislature also gave the Commission jurisdiction over the state’s 50,000 fire hydrants to ensure they operate properly when needed.
If an individual taps into a water system and is not an authorized user, then the rest of that system’s ratepayers end up paying the bill. That is an illegal theft of services and can be prosecuted if the perpetrator is found.
We know of cases where fire hydrants have been tapped illegally for various reasons. This generally occurs at night or in rural locations, where the perpetrators hope to go unnoticed.
In some of these cases, the hydrants have been damaged in the process by these perpetrators to the point that they no longer function properly.
The ratepayers again pick up the tab for this illegal action.
But, even more concerning, is what if a fire occurs where the damaged fire hydrant is located?
The fire department would be unaware that it could not use the hydrant. The result could be the loss of property or even lives.
We take very seriously at the Commission the authorization the Legislature has given us in overseeing fire hydrants.
Public utilities are a lifesaving service that are there to help and to protect each one of us. No individual, group of people, or company has the right to steal the services you ultimately pay for.