13:15:43 Northeast News Network Northeast Net April 25th A large bathhouse, all electrical equipment relies on electricity theft to operate. Yesterday, Harbin launched a large-scale anti-theft inspection. 24 "electricity thieves" including Jinshuihe Bathhouse, Emperor Gourmet, Shijiren Internet Cafe, and Haoyunlai Clay Pot were caught in the act. At 8 am yesterday, the Municipal Electric Power Bureau, Public Security Bureau, and Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau jointly carried out a large-scale anti-theft inspection. The inspectors were divided into seven groups and went deep into various districts to conduct key inspections on industries such as bathing, hotels, and internet cafes. They arrived at Jinshuihe Bathhouse at No. 20 Youzheng Street. Upon entering, the inspectors called the person in charge of the bathhouse to open the distribution box for routine electricity inspection. The bathhouse staff unanimously said, "We don't know where the distribution box and meter are." Following the wires, the inspectors found that the power connection and distribution devices were locked in a small dark room on the second floor. Unable to open the dark room, the inspectors asked the staff to find the boss to open the door. After waiting for nearly an hour, the person in charge still did not show up. Helplessly, under the supervision of the public security personnel, a locksmith company was called. When the inspectors turned off the main switch, all electrical equipment in the bathhouse continued to work normally, and even the lighting was still on. In the men's bath area, the reporter saw that in two large bathtubs filled with cold water, an electric heating tube nearly two meters long was inserted and heating. Near the boiler room, in the drying room, electrical wires coiled with metal wire were also continuously charging to dry clothes. The inspectors pulled out the nearly two-meter-long electric heating tube from the bathtub and estimated that its power consumption was equivalent to that of 15 household electric kettles. Based on all the electrical equipment found on site, the bath center stole over 600 kWh of electricity per day. After confirmation by the inspectors, Jinshuihe Bathhouse had privately embedded external wires in the cement wall, using a method of bypassing the meter to use electricity without going through the meter. The inspectors cut off the power to the bathhouse and handed it over to the public security department for processing. According to the head of the Municipal Electric Power Bureau, the current electricity theft in Harbin shows characteristics of professionalism and concealment, and the technology of electricity theft is shifting towards intelligence. Some thieves use remote controls, magnetic starters combined with air switches, and other technical means to steal electricity. Others install shunt devices inside the meter to reduce the recorded electricity consumption. Every year, Harbin investigates and deals with over 2,000 electricity theft households, with an average annual loss of 100 million kWh, equivalent to an economic loss of over 50 million yuan.
