There are several ways in fooling the electric company and not pay for power. I did not it in a very long time (4 decades). There is another problem with the electrical signature of a computer plugged into the power grid. A friend of mine was a saleman for a company that made UPSes (uninterupted power supply that masked the signature to grid). There is also an electromagnetic signature (that I can mask myself). My guess is that either was a rat or the money printers starting to use this type of technology on regular bases.