I assume we're supposed to be outraged, but it seems completely reasonable to me. I'd be pretty annoyed if somebody just plugged their equipment into one of my exterior outlets and started using my electricity. The "electric car" part doesn't even matter, really.
15 hours in jail for half a kWh is a bit outrageous. Some kind of non-employment-affecting citation would make a lot more sense. Edit: better yet, a stern talking to from a school maintenance official, saving the time and money of getting the police involved.
Do you pay taxes? Does the near-zero cost of the electricity vs the thousands of dollars the town will waste dealing with the matter seem like an odd tradeoff to you?
If you steal a $60 video game from a store, and as a result the store goes out of business or people become afraid of thieves, the county will lose a hefty chunk of property taxes. Society also loses the opportunity to turn a miscreant into a contributor.
If you plug your car into a school for half an hour, you ... what, exactly?
If everyone makes a habit of driving to the school to plug in their cars, I totally see it being a problem. If it is limited to everyone with a legitimate reason to be there in the first place, less so, but I could see it still being an issue.
But would you be annoyed if you had a bunch of people over for dinner and one of them charged their car there? What if you met together at a commonly owned cabin?
The questions really need to be:
* How obvious was the outlet available to service (was it hidden and tough to get to)?
* Was the man charging his car there out of malice or simply convenience?
* Are there other public or private entities where this is the norm? Yes, there are charging stations at malls, state parks, and state rest areas.
I'd be moderately annoyed if one of my guests plugged in their car during dinner without ever asking or telling me about it. I'd be super pissed if some stranger did so, which seems like the more apt comparison here.
Every charging station I've ever seen has been clearly marked as being for public use. They have a distinctive look and there's distinctive signage that says "charging station" or similar.
