Electricity has become an indispensable necessity in our daily lives as it powers nearly all appliances we use. The loss of energy during the transmission of electricity and distribution systems is one such concern for utility companies, affecting the power grids in terms of quality and voltage inconsistencies.
According to a research study conducted by Northeast Group, electricity theft and other non-technical losses cost a whopping $96 billion every year globally, crippling utilities, driving up prices for paying customers, costly government subsidies, and causing public safety crises in some countries.
With the latest technologies and improved intelligence in the new smart grid and metering solutions, tracking and minimizing power thefts is now possible. Modern advanced metering infrastructure solutions are capable of identifying attempted and actual energy thefts through intelligence. In that context, let’s discuss how smart grid solutions can help prevent such thefts.
Fraudulent consumers tend to fraud power supplied through shunt devices, meter tampering, billing irregularities, double tapping of the lines, electronic faults, and unpaid bills.
Direct Theft is where the thief can take energy from the distribution system operator (DSO), without the DSO having the choice of metering the consumption. Meter tampering is the process in which the meter is compromised in such a way that it delivers wrong or compromised readings. Billing irregularities are when energy consumption readings are changed, ranging from meter readings to accounts team. Also, when consumers simply do not pay the bill and make it is difficult for the DSO to cut off the power supply.
Electrical energy thefts during the transmission of electricity are hard to identify and pinpoint as the methods employed by scammers keep on evolving constantly as the utilities develop countermeasures.
To combat such thefts, various techniques and technologies have been developed to help identify and minimize such activities, thus saving energy and costs for the utilities and government.
Modern AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) solutions help identify attempted and actual frauds and thefts by utilizing advanced intelligence. The latest AMI brings significant advancements:
For instance, many sophisticated smart meters can indicate attempts to hack the meter or communications network. These notifications and alerts can be easily accessed and utilized by relevant authorities to take necessary actions and prevent any such illicit activities from occurring.
Available at affordable three and single phase meter price ranges equipped with smart technologies, these devices provide strong protection against cyber-attacks, including features like threat detection, response, and more in line with the requirements of Indian standards and customers specifications. All the monitoring information generated by these smart meters makes it easier for users and utility providers to take preventative and reactive actions toward fraud and robbery.
Smart grid solutions can be used to detect and prevent such fraudulent activities as it provides a two-way electricity flow that allows another entity to detect, reenact and apply new changes to the power data flow.
In summary, with the introduction of smart meters, we now have mechanisms in place to combat power thefts occurring during the transmission of electricity. Only reliable meters with advanced features like tampering alarms, power-cycle cover removal, and other indicators will be effective against the ingenuity of electricity thefts and in that context, we at Genus company offer a range of advanced single and three-phase smart metering solutions designed for efficiency and reliability.
Contact us today and get to know how our smart meter solutions work to give you data-driven insights, saving you energy and costs at the same time.