Electricity theft bleeds power grid dry, officials say

ABCNews15 ^ | AP

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Mexico reaps what it sows.

[Voltage]

Apparently the voltage isn't high enough on these feader lines.

[SShultz460]

distribute at 4160 or 16kv and this wouldn't be a problem for long

[theDentist]

I'm betting it's only a matter of time before Mexico starts stringing wire and cables to US locations for free electricity.

[Brilliant]

Instead of just cutting the illegal lines, why don't they follow them to the culprits, and put on the cuffs?

[steve86]

Some amazing electrical discharge photos/video:

http://205.243.100.155/frames/longarc.htm

[bowzer313]

Can someone explain to me why Mexico and the Mexicans are now, and always have been, so decrepit and backward? It is beyond my comprehension, given that they've lived next door to the greatest nation in the history of the planet for over two hundred years. You'd think they'd have picked up some good ideas along the way from their neighbor to the north, rather than the worst behaviors of their screwed up neighbors to their south. What's the basis of their problem? Inquiring minds want to know...

[newgeezer]

Don't-try-this-at-home ping.

[newgeezer]

Maybe it's something in the water?

[monday]

Mexico should deregulate it's electric market and privatize it. The problem is no one is looking out for the profits. If the electric company was private it's managers would be forced to stop the thieves and turn a profit.

This is what happens when politicians run companies instead of owners. No one is happy.

[broadsword]

Rotten culture, perhaps? Acceptance of vices like tardiness, sloppiness and theft?

I don't know. You tell me.

[RadioAstronomer]

I built a 7 foot high 10 million volt tesla coil. :-)

Neighbors thought UFOs had landed.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Can someone explain to me why Mexico and the Mexicans are now, and always have been, so decrepit and backward? It is beyond my comprehension, given that they've lived next door to the greatest nation in the history of the planet for over two hundred years. You'd think they'd have picked up some good ideas along the way from their neighbor to the north, rather than the worst behaviors of their screwed up neighbors to their south. What's the basis of their problem? Inquiring minds want to know...

Maybe it has something to do with our open borders. Those with initiative (whether for good or for ill) run for the border. Those without take another siesta.

[broadsword]

Cool! Can we string a few thousand of them along the border as bug zappers?

[oldcomputerguy]

"Can someone explain to me why Mexico and the Mexicans are now, and always have been, so decrepit and backward?"

That question is a separate issue. This has nothing to do with being backward, it has everything to do with being poor. I can recall a friend in the military telling me about his relatives stealing electricity in the Appalachians decades ago. The bottom line is that the poor everywhere manage by doing what ever they have to do if not making a living wage.

[rellimpank]

--start with the legacy of imperial Spain--ignorance, superstition, brutality, corruption,---

[Sergio]

I think they would be harder to tap into if they just buried the cable.

Still, there is some poetic justice to this. Legal power consumers complaining about how illegal activity is causing them to have to pay more for their services. Well welcome to California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

Best Regards

Sergio

[conservlib]

What we have a thing called "protestant work ethics". This causes the majority to be conscious about giving a day work for a day pay. Granted, not only protestants are conscious, but that was the genesis of this cultural lack of epidemic corruption that is so pervasive in other countries.

[MineralMan]

"You'd think they'd have picked up some good ideas along the way from their neighbor to the north"

Oh, they have. They just move here. Problem solved.