West Des Moines Man Allegedly Runs Up Mediacom's Power Bill

West Des Moines police are investigating the alleged theft of 16,259 kilowatt hours of electricity – more than five times the amount of electricity used in a normal billing cycle – by a resident whose power was reportedly disconnected on Aug. 13 because his Midamerican Energy account was delinquent.

According to Officer Dan Wade’s report, a Mediacom employee reported to his supervisors that as he was driving past a residence in the 6200 block of Ashworth Road on Sept. 10, he noticed a cable draped from a Mediacom power box and across a driveway to a home.

The Mediacom worker removed the Romex wire, which had been spliced into the power box, and turned it over to his supervisor. The cable is valued at 80 cents per foot and capable of conducting a large volume of electricity, according to the report. A large spool of the wire was reportedly at the home of the suspect, a 34-year-old male.

Authorities will have to wait until the end of the billing cycle to determine how much the extra electrical usage cost Mediacom. Normal usage is 300 killowat hours for the billing cycle.