20/01/2014 Inside Out West

Hello from Gloucestershire. Tonight, a special programme focussing on

energy. Inside Out investigates the growing problem of energy theft The

cost of which is added to our bills. ?500 million worth of gas virtuosity

are stolen across the industry a year. . Potentially ?30 a year on a

customer's bill. Also tonight, we look at some innovative and

perfectly legal ways cut your energy bill. In one year, I saved ?168 If

I look at my bill, I think I am paying less than I was five years

ago. I'm Alastair McKee and this is Inside Out West.

As the row over energy prices gets ever more heated, a growing number

of people are choosing to steal their gas and electricity. For some,

it boils down to being cash`strapped and desperate, but there are others

who are happy to cheat the system while living the high life. In this

exclusive report for Inside Out Mark Jordan joins the enforcement

teams as they hunt down the power thieves.

Energy bills going sky high. Honest households pay up but ?30 a year of

our bill is paying for stolen power. The meter has defiantly been

interfered with. It has a fake seal in the top. Every year, people die

from tampering from a metre. We would disconnect the meter is shut

the supplier. This is the story of the power thieves and the people who

track them down. The British Gas training academy in Leicester.

Engineers learn how to spot tampering of gas and electric

supply. It's never been more needed. Difficult economic climate equals

more people are feeling this is the only way they can get their energy

so the trend is upwards. This is a huge problem. We believe ?500

million worth of energy is stolen each year. That's ?30 a year on

customers' bills, money they shouldn't have to pay. For the next

few days, I'm riding along with Piers and Malcolm, power theft

investigators. The most bizarre case I've dealt with is a nursing home.

When we caught the owner, it cost him ?25,000. The biggest bill I have

had was 290 grand. But this morning's call is for much smaller

fry. Well, the first three we have got are domestic. A routine meter

reading on an East London estate has discovered a single mother of three

tampering with her gas meter. There was what appears to be a cooker hose

at the time that actually replaced the gas meter. Even with gas central

heating, they only paid ?15 last year. How many live here? My mum,

two sisters and myself. The meter's back but hasn't been installed

correctly. Because the mother has children, she's considered

vulnerable and can't be cut off Potentially this one will go to the

police. We try to trace back who's doing this. We find trends where

people go round estates and tamper with meters. These people will

charge a range. We've heard from ?10`500 a time. They can do 10` 5 a

day. They're not putting themselves at risk. If something happened

there, it's all the adjoining properties and everyone in there

that's going to be affected by a potential explosion. This was the

scene that people on Dundas Road woke up to this morning. Whatever

the cause, gas explosions can be deadly. A suspected gas explosion

inside a terraced house. In Sheffield last year, this entire

house was blown apart. Miraculously, no one died. It's a chilling

reminder of the dangers of gas. The damage of that explosion was so

great that authorities were never able to pinpoint the exact cause.

Emergency services were worried about other dangers so they decided

to conduct a test. The police were on site and the

networks were on site and they asked us whether or not we felt it was

right to look at some of the other supplies on the street and "yes .

From 20 houses in a single terrace street, sure enough, we found five

gas thefts and two electricity thefts. It's a great example of how

and what the scale of the issue is. Little now shocks Mark. She showed

me by getting a set of grips out and started to undo the