Penley v. Commonwealth
Court of Appeals of Virginia
51 Va. App. 166 (2008)
After his power was legally shut off, Eckle Penley (defendant) used an illegal meter to obtain electricity from Dominion Virginia Power between April 5 and April 29, 2005, when an employee discovered the illegal connection; Penley was charged with felony utility fraud under a statute requiring at least $200 in unlawfully obtained value. A Dominion employee testified the actual electricity Penley took was worth only $82.29, but that Dominion separately incurred $155.27 in associated costs (disconnection fees and the investigating employee's visit), and the trial court included those costs in calculating the total value, finding it exceeded $200; a jury convicted Penley, and he appealed, arguing the associated costs should not have been included in the valuation.
Whether the value of electricity unlawfully obtained through theft of utility services, for purposes of meeting a felony larceny value threshold, includes the utility company's subsequent investigation and disconnection costs, or only the value of the service actually taken.