CLINTON TWP — A township woman believed she was getting a new electricity provider.

But what she got, authorities said, was scammed.

State police on Monday charged Michael W. Klaus, 43, of Pittsburgh with conning the 44-year-old victim out of several hundred dollars.

The woman told police that she contacted the defendant via Facebook last month because he claimed that he worked for West Penn Power and “could install a new electrical meter on her house for $590,” according to court documents.

Police said she thought that she was changing power providers from Central Electric Cooperative to West Penn.

Klaus showed up at the victim's home April 17 and allegedly installed what she believed to be a genuine electric meter. She paid him the $590 in cash.

But the meter turned out not to be what it appeared. And on April 23, a Central Electric official contacted police after the company discovered the alleged crime.

The “faulty meter,” documents said, “failed to indicate kilowatt usage, making it impossible to track electrical usage at that residence.”

The investigation, police noted, subsequently determined that Klaus was not employed by any power company and that he had “no legal authority to install the faulty electric meter.”

Klaus, who could not be reached for comment, is charged by summons with theft by deception and theft by services, both first-degree misdemeanors.

A telephone message left with Central Electric was not immediately returned Wednesday.