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July 2013 Usage: 798 kWh
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July 2014 Usage: 812 kWh
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July 2015 Usage: 3,472 kWh
The trend had been flat for fourteen years. I read the bill at the kitchen table while Lynette was watering her tomatoes on the back porch. I read it three times. The number did not change.
I poured a fresh cup of coffee. I went out to the substation. I checked every breaker, every transformer reading, and the load measurements on the secondary panel. Something was drawing approximately 2,700 kilowatt hours of load from my substation that was not me. I walked the fence line. I found the unauthorized connection about ninety minutes later at the southeast corner of my property.
The disturbed soil and improvised conduit work made it obvious. The installation was unsafe and unprofessional. I stood at the spot for a while. I took photographs with the camera I always carried in my truck. I drove home.
I sat at the kitchen table with the photographs and the bill in front of me. Lynette came in from her tomatoes.
"Rennie?" "Yes." "What is it?"
I told her. She sat down across from me. She put her hand on the back of my hand.
"What are you going to do?"
I looked at her. I had two answers. Both answers led to substantially different outcomes. I gave her the answer my father would have given.
"Lynette, I am going to wait."
She nodded once, poured herself a cup of coffee, and sat with me for a long time. That was August 2015. I waited for nine years.