Design and Development of An Efficient Power Theft Detection And Prevention System through Consumer Load Profiling

Abstract

One of the main contributors to the nontechnical power losses is the loss due to electricity theft. In developing countries like Pakistan, the financial losses due to electricity theft are very high and pose a very serious threat to the country's economic stability. The most common form of electricity thefts in Pakistan is the theft done at the consumer end due to meter tampering such as bypassing the meter, and at the line end due to “Hooking” system. In order to put a stop to these thefts and to reduce the damage done to our country's economy, we propose a novel solution to detect and then prevent electricity theft. Our theft detection algorithm is able to detect electricity thefts at both the consumer line (meter tampering) and at the distribution line (Hooking) with the help of consumer load profiling. Once a theft is detected, our prevention algorithm firstly disconnects all legal consumers and then a high voltage pulse is sent at the distribution line which will make all illegal consumers in-operational.