Quaere Verum has a cool picture of “meters on a pole.” 98% of the wires in his second picture, however, seem to be telephone wires. In the industry, whether power or telephone, we call it a “rat’s nest.”
His, and the commenters’, points about recovering pilferage in rates are valid ones. I wouldn’t call it “stupid”, but neither did this concept descend from Mt. Sinai with Moses (although many in the industry might consider it that way).