Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) If a consumer does
anything or suffers or permits anything to be done or omits to do anything
whereby electricity supplied by a supply authority escapes from any electric
line laid in, over or along any street or land before it reaches the meter on
the premises of the consumer, he shall be guilty of an offence.
Penalty: $500.
(2) Where a consumer
acts in contravention of subsection (1), in addition to prosecuting the
offender for such offence, the supply authority may —
(a)
disconnect such electric line and discontinue the supply of electricity to the
consumer during such time as the cause of the escape of electricity from such
line remains not remedied; and
(b)
recover from the consumer the amount of all loss which is sustained by the
supply authority in consequence of the wrongful act of such consumer.
(3) Any amount
recoverable by the supply authority under subsection (2)(b) may be recovered
in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(4) Despite subsection
(3), where the supply authority prosecutes a consumer for an offence under
subsection (1), the supply authority may in the same proceedings claim payment
of compensation for loss sustained as provided for in subsection (2)(b), and,
if the consumer is convicted of the offence with which he is charged the Court
may, in addition to imposing a fine in respect of such conviction, assess and
order payment of compensation by the consumer to the supply authority; and in
such case the amount of compensation ordered to be paid shall be recoverable
in the same manner as the fine is recoverable.
[Section 36 amended: No. 113 of 1965 s. 8; No. 63
of 1996 s. 4; No. 59 of 2004 s. 141; No. 19 of 2010 s. 57(4).]