Les Jones

I wonder if that can be done with a CFL.

I wonder if there’s any way of recapturing some of that energy? How much copper coil could you put out there and draw off some juice?

If I didn’t have an irrational fear of large, metallic structures (don’t ask. It’s irrational, I don’t know why they freak me out) I’d definitely have to try this. There’s plenty of these around my house.

There’s some discussion in the comments at jwz’s about that. Apparently people have been able to draw electricity from the field. Unfortunately it’s apparently illegal, because it causes an extra load on the system.

Free-to-me energy

The scary part is that that’s exactly what light bulbs do when you put them in the microwave, too.

You can build a core and coil induction transformer and actually draw current from these power lines and tap it in the right place for the voltage you want. If it sets in one place too long though you will be discovered because they can detect the power loss and its location.

As long as your not touching it I doubt a prosocution would result.

…and if you induce enough energy to leave the grid, the utility can detect it and track you down. Stealing energy, even without touching anything, is a crime. Of course, no one is going to waste taxpayer money prosecuting some poor slob for lighting up a fluorescent tube out in a corn field.
…or will they?