Stealing Electricity

i like your thinking

Interesting, what ever became of the Pueblo WAPA theft??

Pueblo supermarket owner Ahmad Al Khatib stole from WAPA last year, erm, I'm seeing a pattern here...

www.vimovingcenter.com/talk/read.php?4,119836,119836#msg-119836

The news link from the Pueblo theft is mysteriously gone!
I wonder how much THAT cost??

The news link from the Pueblo theft is mysteriously gone!

That's because virginislandsdailynews.com just re-designed their site and broke all their old links.

Crooks stealing from other crooks leaving the rest of us honest people to pay.

I'm glad to see them catch a crook, hopefully they will punish him severely as a warning to others. However I somehow don't trust WAPA to lower rates even if all the crooks were caught.

Hightest electricity rates in the US (possibly world?) = FAIL

Sean

Did you see how long he was stealing - since 2002 in one store and 2003 in another. Why so long to catch him? That's a lot of money.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but VIWAPA being guilty of racketeering, I feel that we rate-paying sheep are complicit and I have a degree of sympathy for those who stick it to them. WAPA resembles nothing so much as a crime syndicate and anyone who defies them might reasonably be seen as a hero.

I don't know where the convenience marts are? Obviously I don't patronize them but want to make sure. I have quit going to Pueblo. If the government won't do anything perhaps we can at least hit them in the pocketbook a little.

Pamela

The Gov't owes WAPA somewhere around $14 MILLION

The Gov't owes WAPA somewhere around $14 MILLION

Yeah! Let's boycott the government.

OK--I'm in Roto!!

Sign me up Rotorhead.

The news link from the Pueblo theft is mysteriously gone!

That's because virginislandsdailynews.com just re-designed their site and broke all their old links.

Sure, right(the daily news link links to another site & the story is still gone, even though it has NOTHING to do with the VI DAILY NEWS,,,but we'll forget that, just for a MOMENT)....

The question still stands, what DID become of the Electric theft described below(I/We have not been provided an answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!):

Pueblo owner charged with theft from WAPA

Publication date:2009-9-12
Sep. 12--ST. THOMAS -- The owner of four of the territory's major supermarkets has been charged with using illegal connections to steal electricity at one of his stores.

Ahmad Al Khatib, 51, of Chicago is accused of obtaining money by false pretense, grand larceny, meter tampering, reckless endangerment and operating a criminal enterprise.

He was advised of his rights Friday in V.I. Superior Court.

Al Khatib is the sole owner of World Fresh Market, the company that operates the Pueblo Supermarkets -- two each on St. Thomas and St. Croix.

Special agents of the V.I. Justice Department took Al Khatib into custody Thursday afternoon as he was preparing to board a flight for Chicago.

Special Agent Kenneth Schulte-rbrandt wrote in his affidavit that on Sept. 4, the V.I. Justice Department received a complaint from the Water and Power Authority about meter tampering, hazardous condition and diversion of power at the Sub Base store, which was discovered by WAPA's Revenue Assurance Department.

Based on the consumption and kilowatt printout for World Fresh at Sub Base, investigators believe that the theft began around Dec. 13, 2008, according to Schulterbrandt.

Schulterbrandt said the amount Al Khatib owes for unpaid electricity is more than $1 million so far.

"WAPA is still conducting an accounting for World Fresh supermarkets in St. Croix," Schulterbrandt wrote.

At the time of the arrest, Al Khatib's bail was set at $200,000. Later Thursday, Judge James Carroll III reduced his bail to $20,000 and Al Khatib was allowed to be released from custody Thursday evening after posting only $5,000, Assistant Attorney General Claude Walker said.

Al Khatib's lawyer Michael Sheesley asked Magistrate Judge Alan Smith to modify his client's bail and order that the $5,000 Al Khatib already posted be returned to him.

"Al Khatib is the president of World Fresh Market. These stores employ over 300 Virgin Island residents. We ask that he be released on his personal recognizance and conditions be set so he could move back and forth," Sheesley said.

Sheesley said there is no evidence that Al Khatib had a personal hand in any wrongdoing.

Walker said that based on the overwhelming evidence, the bail should be reinstated to $200,000.

"He has no local ties to the community. The concern of the government is that so far, over $1 million is owed to WAPA for the illegal connections. Given the magnitude of the money at stake, we need to set bail to ensure the defendant's appearances in court and at trial. We also have concerns with him being a flight risk," Walker said.

Having considered the arguments from both sides, Smith announced his ruling.

"I think the $200,000 bail is appropriate and the posting of 10 percent. The court is not going to interfere with his travel schedule," Smith said, and ordered that Al Khatib pay the balance of his outstanding bail amount.

Smith also ordered Sheesley to provide Al Khatib's travel schedule for the next six months.

Al Khatib is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Sept. 17

- Contact reporter Corliss Smithen at 774-8772 ext 302 or e-mail csmithen@dailynews.vi.

So, instead of giving excuses such as re-design of sits & such, I'd like to know the bigger question, strop side stepping!
SO, WHAT IS GOING ON????????????????????

The Gov't owes WAPA somewhere around $14 MILLION

Yeah! Let's boycott the government.

Since WAPA is part of the VI Government;
The VI Government establishes the WAPA rates;
Businesses are stealing electricity . . . Remind me again who are we boycotting?

Then the post below throws a new monkey wrench into the mix, because I really need a new beach chair. Oh, what to do.

exit zero
Re: Beach chair purchase
April 22, 2010 05:11PM

Pueblo in Sub base has beach chairs on sale for $13 now.

Just tell yourself that you've already paid for a good part of the price through your WAPA bill which brought the price down to $13. Now you can go finish your purchase 🙂

The Gov't owes WAPA somewhere around $14 MILLION

Yeah! Let's boycott the government.

Since WAPA is part of the VI Government;
The VI Government establishes the WAPA rates;
Businesses are stealing electricity . . . Remind me again who are we boycotting?

Then the post below throws a new monkey wrench into the mix, because I really need a new beach chair. Oh, what to do.

exit zero
Re: Beach chair purchase
April 22, 2010 05:11PM

Pueblo in Sub base has beach chairs on sale for $13 now.

I think considering how poor WAPA bookkeeping is it'd be hard to prove any electricity theft. For all we know, they could be miscounting. In the last 6 months WAPA hasn't read our meter once - instead they keep "estimating". Who knows what happens when they come and look at real numbers.

In places where there is competent electric service, any stealing on a large scale is completely impossible for basic technical reasons.

I'd love to boycott the government...only problem is that the government has guns, do you? And if you do can you out-arm them?

Another somber reminder that EVERYTHING the government does, whether good or bad, is does through violence or the threat thereof. I try to be non violent which is why I want as little government (e.g. violence) as possible. This is the core of every argument I make against government (in)action, whether it be healthcare, increasing taxes, welfare etc.

It's simply impossible to live in peace and have government control things such as a utility (WAPA) as the very nature of government is that it's an institution that has the monopoly on violence. Government should have no connection to utilities...its a ridiculous concept that has played out to its logical conclusion in the VI where they have proven so inept it is actually becoming cheaper to generate your own power than rely on the public grid. That is unbelieveable considering the economies of scale that are possible in electricity generation.

So enough of my negativity, does anyone have any positive ideas? It seems like if someone setup a large generoator in my neighborhood on one of the empty lots and wired up all the houses they could probably charge less than WAPA and make money. What is stopping someone from doing this other than the fact that I'm pretty certain the government would somehow shut one down in an heartbeat if they tried such an endeavor?

Sean

Some places on STX are "off the grid". The Buccaneer Hotel is not connected to WAPA. They did it because they did not want outages. But cheap it's not. The Buccaneer generators run on diesel fuel - a lot of deisel fuel. And the generators are noisy. The generators are only feasible because the size of the Buccaneer property allows them to be very removed from the living areas. I doubt that could be done in a neighborhood setting.

I believe The Divi Hotel and the Casino also run on generators

Actually, I believe it IS cheaper for Buccaneer an Divi to run on generators, and the shocking fact is that it was still cheaper for them to generate their own current back when the WAPA rate was far cheaper than it is now. Every rate hike now puts money in their pockets.

Three-phase power was brought out to the East End along the South shore to service Divi, and they used WAPA power until their power plant came online Then they called WAPA and had them disconnect their meter. They have several generator units in that building on the NW end of the property which rotate in and out of service. One or two units roar to life around 3am as the kitchens and water heaters kick in for the day. I smell the diesel exhaust when they start up...:-(

Stiphy....It seems to me that some guys a long time ago met the then Gov't head on with violence and won ! The will of people and the pursuit of freedom and a little bravery can go a long way...Going on over 200 years....It's called the United States...not preaching my friend just don't want you to give up so easy....you can be a non-violent supporter of freedom and you'd be in good company...:-)

Generators? Why not solar?

Regarding the Buccaneer, I can't state definintely whether it's cheaper or not. I do know the reason they went off-line originally was a matter of reliability. You can't charge top dollar for a hotel room and have the power going off.

Linda, here are some things to factor into the equation...the commercial rate WAPA charges for electricity is higher than the residential rate; the cost of fuel for power generation is lower than the cost of fuel at the pump; hotels have a high demand thus an economy of scale exists, lowering the cost per unit/kw. Remember too that, even at the lower residential WAPA rate, going off-the-grid is cost-neutral for individuals over the long term even at today's rate (and you know that WAPA prices are only going up.)

To me, this is the single most damning indictment against WAPA: that it is both cheaper and more reliable to generate your own power than to buy it from the public utility, even on the smallest scales!