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Nearly half of electricians and gas engineers have been asked to tamper with meters in the last year, as people struggle with the cost of their energy bills, new research suggests. Almost a third of tradespeople (30%) also say they have seen evidence of tampering in clients' homes, according to the survey. Tampering with a meter means it doesn't read the correct amount of energy being used. But anyone caught doing it can face a £30,000 fine and even risk losing their life. Research from Direct Line business insurance found 43% of electricians and gas engineers have been asked by...

OSLO (Reuters) - Sea levels could rise by at least six meters (20 feet) in the long term, swamping coasts from Florida to Bangladesh, even if governments achieve their goals for curbing global warming, according to a study published on Thursday. Tracts of ice in Greenland and Antarctica melted when temperatures were around or slightly higher than today in ancient thaws in the past three million years, a U.S.-led international team wrote in the journal Science. And the world may be headed for a repeat even if governments cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to a United Nations...

Orlando commissioners OK'd a plan Monday to install old parking meters repurposed to accept donations for the homeless around downtown, near spots where panhandlers beg passersby for spare change. City leaders say the 15 meters will give downtown workers and visitors an alternative to giving money to panhandlers. The money will be donated to a homeless charity. The city calls them "donation meters," but they've been dubbed "homeless meters" in some other cities. Either way, Mayor Buddy Dyer said they're a good idea. --SNIP--Orlando has drawn criticism for its treatment of the homeless in the past, including its defense of...

Would you sign up for a discount with your power company in exchange for surrendering control of your thermostat? What if it means that, one day, your auto insurance company will know that you regularly arrive home on weekends at 2:15 a.m., just after the bars close? Welcome to the complex world of the Smart Grid, which may very well pit environmental concerns against thorny privacy issues. If you think such debates are purely philosophical, you’re behind the times.

One in ten households in England and Wales will fall into "water poverty" under plans to introduce meters for every home in Britain, a consumer group has warned. Millions of families, already suffering from rising food and fuel costs, face soaring bills, with some left up to £200 a year worse off by the Government plans, according to The Consumer Council for Water. Currently water companies can introduce "pay as you flow" meters in areas that are at a high risk of drought. The Government had long-term plans to introduce them into other areas by 2030. However a Government report...

April Fools has past, but the joke is still on us! Electricity prices are going up again throughout Ontario. Who is to blame? It seems like just about everybody. With OPG making a profit off of the generation of power, the McGuinty Liberals have nevertheless increased hydro rates from 4.3 cents per kWh when they took office, to 4.7 cents last year, and now as of April 1st to 5.0 cents per kWh for the first 750kWh, and 5.8 cents after that. You will really get hit if you switched to electric heating a couple of decades ago, as the...

A Garfield man accused of stealing parking meters last year was held for trial yesterday after a preliminary hearing in Municipal Court. Wade Harris will stand trial on two counts each of theft, receiving stolen property and criminal mischief. At least 400 meters were stolen last year from numerous neighborhoods around the city. Burglary detectives arrested Harris, 39, last month for stealing parking meters from around the city, breaking them open to get the money, and selling the poles as scrap.

THE ISSUE Soon after the city of Monroe installed an automated electricity meter at JB's Midway Barbecue in April, the city's utility department notified owner Jim Benton the restaurant was using much more power than the old meter indicated. First, his power bill increased from between $800 and $900 to $1,200 a month, Benton said. Then, he received a letter from the city informing him that a city analysis showed his old meter had been under-registering for almost a decade. He would be billed almost $11,000 -- three years' worth of back charges. Benton learned that a city policy allows...

Man treads on ant nest, falls 100mOctober 21, 2003A MAN who got out of his car to answer a call of nature ended up injured and stranded when he stepped on an ants' nest and fell down a 100 metre slope. The hapless motorist's ordeal began when he stopped beside the road in the Lamington National Park, on the Gold Coast hinterland, around midnight last night, police said. He first stood on a nest of meat ants, which swarmed out and began biting him. As the man scrambled away from the nest he lost his footing and tumbled 100 metres...

<p>In its bid to block a statewide mandate on water meters, Sacramento could be compared to the Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the dike.</p> <p>Environmentalists, Southern California interests and the Association of California Water Agencies have all lined up to support legislation requiring water meters on all residences statewide.</p>