Last year I bought my house at a foreclosure auction for a cheap price. It needed some work, so I started with things that would cost me money the longer I put it off, mostly insulation. Last week I finally started work in the basement & noticed that the wires from my circuit breaker box do not connect to meter box on the side of the house. Instead, the wires run outside into a pipe in the ground which seems to run to an identical pipe on the side of my neighbor’s house.
This led me to conclude that my house gets it’s electricity from my neighbor’s house. I then realized that I haven’t seen a utility bill since I bought the place. Sure enough, the pipe that supplies water to my entire house is disconnected from what should be the municipal supply to my house, but instead runs in the direction of the same neighbor’s house. The gas line was rerouted in the same fashion.
I thought that I should report the situation to the proper authorities, but I never got the place inspected or looked at by a professional after I bought the place, which probably would have lead to the situation’s discovery & relieved me of any responsibility. I fear that I might be accused of doing it & might be scrutinized for never realizing the lack of a utility bill, although the lack of bills to the previous owner might show that the work was done before I ever even saw the house.
I thought about selling the house to get away from it, but then the next owner might do what I should’ve done & I’d end up in big trouble. I considered making the proper connection myself or having a tight lipped contractor like my my cousin do it, but then my bills could skyrocket, leaving me with far less money to fix up the place. The lack of expensive utility bills certainly enabled me to get a lot of work done.
I don’t know how my neighbor would react if I told him that he’s been paying for my utilities for a year, and probably paid for the previous owner’s utilities before me, so I thought I could sort of repent for my ignorance without him knowing. By installing solar panels & wind turbines to produce more electricity than I use, I could eliminate the amount of power I draw from my neighbor’s meter. Also, I could use electricity instead of gas for heat & my stove so I’m no longer getting gas via my neighbor’s meter, but still not using electricity from the grid. Water would still need to be addressed, so I’d either need to reattach my pipe to the water supply & pay for it myself; or leave it as it is, reduce my water use, & try to offset my neighbor’s electric bill enough to compensate for him paying for my water. To unknowingly repay him for my year of utilities, I could do this for years. In time, I could save my neighbor a lot of money by getting for panels & turbines to make my my neighbor’s meter turn slower, or even backwards!
So, how do I tell my neighbor that instead of paying the electric company, he’ll have to pay me?????
More Pages:
- Solar Panel: If I Buy 2 Solar Panel Kits Of 45 Watts Each How Much Would I Making In Kwh? (4/26/2011)
- Wind and Solar power generation……?
- Solar Lights: Can You Take A Residential Energy Credit For Solar Accent Lights? (4/28/2011)
- Solar Panel: Solar Power? (4/26/2011)
- Solar Panel: What Is The Price Of A Full Solar Panel Kit ? (4/29/2011)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
You don’t – you fix the problem. Personally, I would have the tight lipped contractor do it, but that is wrong. Really, you should report it to the electric company and get the previous owner in trouble.
Be prepared to pay back the neighbor.
You mean to tell me that you have been (unknowingly) stealing money off your neighbor for a year, and your solution is to ultimately have HIM pay YOU?
Do the honorable thing.
You know what it is.
No one should have to tell you.