Electricity Theft Research Articles

Analysis of the degree of correlation of spatial distribution of electricity theft and exogenous variables: case study of Florianopolis, Brazil

Abstract This article presents a geospatial study case on electricity theft. The main objective is to identify the degree of correlation between exogenous variables and areas with a high density of irregular cases. Firstly, the geospatial study is carried out to asses the null hypothesis and check whether the data pattern presents clustering, for this the ANN method is applied, which ruled out the null hypothesis for the data set. Once the clustering pattern is confirmed, the spatial weight matrix is created to study spatial autocorrelation by applying Global Moran’s I and Local Moran’s I. Moran scatterplot is used to evaluate the degree of fitness, identify outliers, and local pockets of stationarity. The Local Moran index is used to determine the location of the clusters and the relationship between the points. In the data pre-processing step, spatial interpolation is implemented to the exogenous variables as a tool to better association of consumer units points and socioeconomic variables, the method utilized is IDW interpolation. The R-squared value of the spatial lag model after model tuning by feature selection was 87 % indicating that the model fit the observed data well.

XAI-Based Accurate Anomaly Detector That Is Robust Against Black-Box Evasion Attacks for the Smart Grid

In the realm of smart grids, machine learning (ML) detectors—both binary (or supervised) and anomaly (or unsupervised)—have proven effective in detecting electricity theft (ET). However, binary detectors are designed for specific attacks, making their performance unpredictable against new attacks. Anomaly detectors, conversely, are trained on benign data and identify deviations from benign patterns as anomalies, but their performance is highly sensitive to the selected threshold values. Additionally, ML detectors are vulnerable to evasion attacks, where attackers make minimal changes to malicious samples to evade detection. To address these limitations, we introduce a hybrid anomaly detector that combines a Deep Auto-Encoder (DAE) with a One-Class Support Vector Machine (OCSVM). This detector not only enhances classification performance but also mitigates the threshold sensitivity of the DAE. Furthermore, we evaluate the vulnerability of this detector to benchmark evasion attacks. Lastly, we propose an accurate and robust cluster-based DAE+OCSVM ET anomaly detector, trained using Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) explanations generated by the Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) method on consumption readings. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed XAI-based detector achieves superior classification performance and exhibits enhanced robustness against various evasion attacks, including gradient-based and optimization-based methods, under a black-box threat model.

Empowering marginalised communities: Leveraging indigenous knowledge for sustainable energy development in South Africa

AbstractAmidst South Africa's volatile energy landscape—characterised by political turbulence, economic instability and Eskom's chronic financial and operational challenges—the imperative for transformative reform is both urgent and indispensable. Municipalities are confronted with deteriorating infrastructure, recurrent power disruptions and widespread electricity theft, which collectively exacerbate the national energy crisis. This paper investigates the integration of indigenous knowledge systems within the country's energy sector as a strategic response to these persistent challenges, promoting the empowerment of marginalised communities and advancing environmental sustainability. Anchored in the theoretical frameworks of environmental justice and indigenous rights, the paper advocates for Afrocentric paradigms such as traditional resource governance and community‐driven energy solutions. Employing thematic analysis of secondary data, it evaluates the viability and prospective benefits of this paradigm shift. The paper posits that the inclusion of indigenous knowledge in energy practices not only presents tangible solutions to the energy crisis but also cultivates socio‐economic empowerment and reinforces environmental stewardship.

An effective ensemble electricity theft detection algorithm for smart grid

AbstractSeveral machine learning and deep learning algorithms have been presented to detect the criminal behaviours in a smart grid environment in recent studies because of many successful results. However, most learning algorithms for the electricity theft detection have their pros and cons; hence, a critical research issue nowadays has been how to develop an effective detection algorithm that leverages the strengths of different learning algorithms. To demonstrate the performance of such an integrated detection model, the algorithm proposed first builds on deep neural networks, a meta‐learner for determining the weights of detection models for the construction of an ensemble detection algorithm and then uses a promising metaheuristic algorithm named search economics to optimise the hyperparameters of the meta‐learner. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is able to find better results and outperforms all the other state‐of‐the‐art detection algorithms for electricity theft detection compared in terms of the accuracy, F1‐score, area under the curve of precision‐recall (AUC‐PR), and area under the curve of receiver operating characteristic (AUC‐ROC). Since the results show that the meta‐learner of the proposed algorithm can improve the accuracy of deep learning algorithms, the authors expect that it will be used in other deep learning‐based applications.

Detection Method for Three-Phase Electricity Theft Based on Multi-Dimensional Feature Extraction.

The advent of smart grids has facilitated data-driven methods for detecting electricity theft, with a preponderance of research efforts focused on user electricity consumption data. The multi-dimensional power state data captured by Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) encompasses rich information, the exploration of which, in relation to electricity usage behaviors, holds immense potential for enhancing the efficiency of theft detection. In light of this, we propose the Catch22-Conv-Transformer method, a multi-dimensional feature extraction-based approach tailored for the detection of anomalous electricity usage patterns. This methodology leverages both the Catch22 feature set and complementary features to extract sequential features, subsequently employing convolutional networks and the Transformer architecture to discern various types of theft behaviors. Our evaluation, utilizing a three-phase power state and daily electricity usage data provided by the State Grid Corporation of China, demonstrates the efficacy of our approach in accurately identifying theft modalities, including evasion, tampering, and data manipulation.

Developing and Implementing an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Driven System For Electricity Theft Detection

Electricity theft is a significant challenge for utility companies worldwide, leading to substantial economic losses and inefficiencies in power distribution. Traditional methods of detecting electricity theft, such as manual inspections and routine audits, are often inefficient and ineffective. To address this issue, this study aims to develop and implement an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven system for electricity theft detection. Methodology used are data collection, data analysis, feature selection with Chi-Square, feature transformation with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and model for electricity theft detection. To achieve this, a Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (PSO) was applied to improve training performance of the SVM, using data of meter recharge information collected from Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC). The system effectiveness is validated through extensive testing using real-world data from various regions and scenarios, demonstrating its robustness and adaptability. The system result considering FDR reported that 0.11 was achieved for the particle swarm based SVM model. When TPR was considered for analysis, it was observed that particle swarm based SVM attained a score of 0.89. In addition, Particle swarm based SVM attained PPV of 0.895. In terms of accuracy, the particle swarm based SVM reported an accuracy of 0.857. The result showed that the particle swarm based SVM performed better from the system validation achieved through comparative analysis, hence it is recommended for use to develop the new software for energy theft investigation. The implementation of this AI-driven solution offers numerous benefits, including enhanced detection accuracy, reduced operational costs, and improved overall efficiency of power distribution networks. Moreover, it enables utility companies to take proactive measures to prevent theft, ensuring a more reliable and secure electricity supply for consumers.

Machine-learning techniques for enhancing electricity theft detection considering transformer reliability and supply interruptions

Machine-learning techniques are extensively used in fraud detection and have a huge potential application in electricity theft detection. Electricity theft occurs when consumers manipulate their electricity consumption to be recorded as lower than the actual, resulting in reduced revenue for the electricity supplier. This study explores the application of advanced machine-learning techniques to detect electricity theft, focusing on the impact on supply of electricity to electricity usage pattern. We used a dataset that contains supply interruptions influenced by transformer reliability to construct a robust detection model. This model integrates data analytic techniques from decision trees, support vector machines, k-nearest neighbors, and logistic regression classifiers. After selecting the optimal classifier, we used aggregated parameters to improve theft-detection accuracy. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis was used to evaluate the effects of variations in transformer reliability factors on interruption, interruption costs, electricity revenue, and theft-detection performance. Our findings indicate that using optimal aggregated parameters significantly enhances detection accuracy 10.709 percent, 11.435 percent, 4.909 percent, and 2.097 percent from original parameters depend on the number of aggregation in 2-hour, 4-hour, 6-hour, and 12-hour, respectively. The lower transformer reliability leads to increased loss with percentage 66.87 percent, 46.98 percent, 17.22 percent and reduced theft-detection efficiency by 27.32 percent, 19.23 percent, 6.20 percent. depend on reliability factor20 percent, 50 percent, and 80 percent, respectively.

Research on the identification and detection technology of electricity theft in power distribution areas under a smart grid environment

Abstract With the extensive application of smart meters, power companies can access a wealth of customer electricity usage data, which has not yet been fully utilized. This paper proposes a substation area user identification and electricity theft detection method based on smart meter data, aiming to enhance the level of intelligent management of power grid enterprises and reduce operational costs. By using the grey relational analysis method, analyzing the measurement data collected by smart meters at different time points, it is possible to determine the substation area and phase to which the user belongs and to detect electricity theft behavior. Finally, through simulation, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified.

Electricity theft detection model based on the CEEMDAN-CNN-ViT

Abstract Most of the traditional power theft detection methods construct the model directly on the basis of the original power sequences, and do not simultaneously consider the long-period dependencies in the long-time sequences and the local connectivity features between periods, which limits the deep excavation of the behavioral laws of power users. In order to further improve the accuracy of power theft detection, this paper proposes a high-precision power theft detection model that integrates local anomaly filtering, energy consumption decomposition, and multi-feature fusion strategies. First, local anomaly filtering is used to eliminate local anomalies in the normalized energy consumption data to avoid the misleading effect of short-term abnormal behavior on the model. Then, the energy consumption decomposition based on CEEMDAN selects specific frequency band data that can accurately characterize the pattern of power theft users to improve the accuracy of power theft detection. Next, the long-time periodic features in the two-dimensional data and the short-time local features in the one-dimensional sequences are integrated by multi-feature fusion to enhance the adaptability of the model. The results show that the proposed model can effectively improve the detection accuracy, detection completeness, F1 score, and accuracy compared with the existing methods.

Resolution Effort of Electricity Theft Crimes at PLN UP3 Sorong

This study aims to investigate the impact of electricity theft on PLN and the state and analyze the out-of-court resolution system for electricity theft by PT PLN UP3 Sorong Branch. The method used is an empirical juridical approach focusing on case analysis and field data. The results showed that PLN uses the additional bill, Tagihan Susulan (TS) as the fine, as an out-of-court resolution for electricity theft cases. However, there is an option to settle through the court if the customer objects. Although the number of cases is decreasing, challenges in addressing the problem of electricity theft still exist, and its resolution requires a holistic approach that considers the principles of justice and applicable law. In conclusion, electricity theft violates the law that must be addressed effectively to maintain the sustainability of the electricity sector and justice for all parties involved.

Review on Temporal Convolutional Networks for Electricity Theft Detection with Limited Data

Electricity theft detection using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques have shown significant promise in recent research. However, practical implementation and widespread adoption of these advanced methods face several persistent challenges, particularly when dealing with limited data. This review delves into the computational complexity, data requirements, overfitting issues, and scalability and generalizability concerns associated with popular techniques such as Temporal Convolutional Networks (TCN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNN), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Computational complexity and resource constraints affect the training times and convergence of TCN, LSTM, and DCNN, while high data needs and parameter tuning hinder MLP and GRU. The ANN-based method utilized by the Electricity Company of Ghana underscores overfitting and data duplication, further exacerbated by limited data availability. Moreover, the scalability and generalizability of TCN, LSTM, and DCNN across different regions and larger datasets are limited, with effectiveness varying based on electricity consumption patterns and theft tactics. Addressing these challenges through optimizing computational efficiency, improving data quality and utilization, and enhancing scalability and generalizability is crucial, especially in data-constrained environments. Continued research and development in these areas will be essential for realizing the full potential of AI-based electricity theft detection systems with limited data.

Experimental investigation on wireless integrated smart system for energy and water resource management in Indian smart cities

In the realm of India's smart cities, precise meter readings are essential for effectively managing domestic energy and water systems. Nevertheless, meter reading employing conventional techniques prove to be both costly and time-consuming, especially considering the vast user base and deficit of everyday consumption analysis. To cope with this challenge, the proposed solution introduces a novel unified wireless smart metering system for measuring energy and water usage. This prototype harnesses the smart, advanced metering technology to manage energy and water resources. The presence of data and remote control capabilities in smart distribution transformers offers distribution operators the chance to optimize system operation and control. The innovative system proposed utilizes smart metering technology and incorporates a distribution system self-healing mechanism against power outages, revolutionizing the way utilities manage water and energy consumption. The system not only offers real-time consumption statistics to the utility provider but also provides the flexibility to remotely control the system's turn-on and turn-off functions. The system effectively captures real-time data, transmits it via LoRa to Telegram application. The system automatically re-establishes remote connections in the event of disconnections caused by emergency conditions or non-payment of the bill, once the relevant issue has been resolved. Additionally, the system promptly notifies authorities on overload, over-temperature, and instances of electricity theft. The system proficiently generates bills based on the consumed data and seamlessly transmits the consumed units to the authorities. The innovative system proposed has proven its ability to communicate effectively, yielding results that align with the given circumstances.

Deep learning-based electricity theft prediction in non-smart grid environments

In developing countries, smart grids are nonexistent, and electricity theft significantly hampers power supply. This research introduces a lightweight deep-learning model using monthly customer readings as input data. By employing careful direct and indirect feature engineering techniques, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE), UMAP (Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection), and resampling methods such as Random-Under-Sampler (RUS), Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE), and Random-Over-Sampler (ROS), an effective solution is proposed. Previous studies indicate that models achieve high precision, recall, and F1 score for the non-theft (0) class, but perform poorly, even achieving 0 %, for the theft (1) class. Through parameter tuning and employing Random-Over-Sampler (ROS), significant improvements in accuracy, precision (89 %), recall (94 %), and F1 score (91 %) for the theft (1) class are achieved. The results demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms existing methods, showcasing its efficacy in detecting electricity theft in non-smart grid environments.

Electric theft detection based on multi-source heterogeneous time series GRU network

Abstract Electricity theft has long been one of the major problems faced by power supply enterprises. To improve the robustness and accuracy of power theft detection, this article explores the method of multi-source heterogeneous time series feature fusion and designs a gated cyclic unit network model that adapts to its feature fusion. Firstly, through correlation analysis, it is verified that there is a logical correlation between different time series features and classification features, providing a theoretical basis for feature fusion. Then, an encoder decoder model framework is constructed with an attention mechanism to achieve effective fusion and state detection of user multi-source time series features. The experimental results show that compared to a single data source, the fusion of multi-source features can significantly improve detection performance, and the designed model is superior to the control model. This study provides a reference for constructing an efficient power theft detection system and also provides examples of multi-source heterogeneous feature fusion in related fields.

Subject and Object of Forensic Electrical Engineering in Proceedings Electricity Theft

The purpose of this article is to summarize the results of electrical engineering expert research (in particular, performed at National Scientific Center «Hon. Prof. M. S. Bokarius Forensic Science Institute» of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine) and a complex of general scientific and special methods (in particular, formal-logical, comparison, analysis and synthesis) to determine the place of examination on the facts of theft of electricity in the forensic electrical examination, to formulate the concept of the subject and object of such examination, to compile a list of its types .Prospects for the development of forensic electrotechnical expertise are outlined. The results of forensic electrotechnical researches in proceedings on the theft of electricity are summarized. Continuity of the general tasks of the forensic electrotechnical examination has been proven by these studies. On the basis of the considered separate trends of species genesis in forensic examination, an opinion is expressed about the further development of forensic electrical engineering. The structure of areas of forensic research on unaccounted electricity use was considered and their place in the system of forensic electrical technical examinations was determined. The principles of formation of typical lists of questions in forensic electrotechnical examination on the facts of electricity in accordance with the method of committing a criminal offense are laid down. According to provisions of the general theory of forensic examinations, the subject and object of the forensic electrical engineering on the facts of electricity theft are defined. Typical questions to forensic expert in proceedings about electricity theft due to the influence of electromagnetic radiation on the metering device are formulated. On the example of this list, the principles of forming typical lists of questions for other areas of re-search into the facts of electricity theft, depending on the method of committing the criminal offense, are considered.

Electricity Theft Detection Using Rule-Based Machine Leaning (rML) Approach

Since electricity theft affects non-technical losses (NTLs) in power distribution systems, power companies are genuinely quite concerned about it. Power companies can use the information gathered by Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to create data-driven, machine learning-based approaches for Electricity Theft Detection (ETD) in order to solve this problem. The majority of data-driven methods for detecting power theft do take usage trends into account while doing their analyses. Even though consumption-based models have been applied extensively to the detection of power theft, it can be difficult to reliably identify theft instances based only on patterns of usage. In this paper, a novel rule-based combined machine learning (rML) technique is developed for power theft detection to address the drawbacks of systems that rely just on consumption patterns. This approach makes use of the load profiles of energy users to establish rules, identify the rule or rules that apply to certain situations, and classify the cases as either legitimate or fraudulent. The UEDAS smart business power consumption dataset's real-world data is used to assess the performance of the suggested technique. Our technique is an innovation in theft detection that combines years of intensive theft tracking with the use of rule-based systems as feature spaces for traditional machine learning models. With an astounding 93% recall rate for the rule-based feature space combination of the random forest classifier, this novel approach has produced outstanding results. The acquired results show a noteworthy accomplishment in the field of fraud detection, successfully detecting fraudulent consumers 77% of the time during on-site examination.

Electricity Theft Detection and Prevention Using Technology-Based Models: A Systematic Literature Review

Electricity theft comes with various disadvantages for power utilities, governments, businesses, and the general public. This continues despite the various solutions employed to detect and prevent it. Some of the disadvantages of electricity theft include revenue loss and load shedding, leading to a disruption in business operations. This study aimed to conduct a systematic literature review to identify what technology solutions have been offered to solve electricity theft and the effectiveness of those solutions by considering peer-reviewed empirical studies. The systematic literature review was undertaken following the guidelines for conducting a literature review in computer science to assess potential bias. A total of 11 journal articles published from 2012 to 2022 in SCOPUS, Science Direct, and Web of Science were analysed to reveal solutions, the type of theft addressed, and the success and limitations of the solutions. The findings show that the focus in research is channelled towards solving electricity theft in Smart Grids (SGs) and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI); moreover, there is a neglect in the recent literature on finding solutions that can prevent electricity theft in countries that do not have SG and AMI installed. Although the results reported in this study are confined to the analysed research papers, the leading limitation in the selected studies, lack of real-life data for dishonest users. This study’s contribution is to show what technology solutions are prevalent in solving electricity theft in recent years and the effectiveness of such solutions.

Electricity Theft Detection in Smart Grids Using Sarimax and OCR

This study proposes a novel approach to detect electricity theft in smart grids by combining SARIMAX (Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Exogenous Factors) models with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) techniques. Electricity theft remains a significant challenge in smart grid systems, leading to revenue losses and operational inefficiencies. Traditional methods often fall short in accurately identifying and addressing such illicit activities. The integration of SARIMAX models leverages time-series data, capturing patterns and anomalies indicative of electricity theft. These models incorporate exogenous factors such as weather conditions, economic indicators, and historical consumption patterns, enhancing the detection accuracy. Additionally, OCR technology is applied to analyze meter readings and identify discrepancies or irregularities that may signal potential theft instances. The synergy between SARIMAX and OCR offers a comprehensive solution for electricity theft detection in smart grids. By harnessing advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms, this approach enables utility providers to proactively identify suspicious activities, mitigate revenue losses, and ensure the integrity of their grid infrastructure

Improving Electricity Theft Detection Using Electricity Information Collection System and Customers’ Consumption Patterns

Electricity theft detection (ETD) techniques employed to identify fraudulent consumers often fail to accurately pinpoint electricity thieves in real time. The patterns associated with electricity use are leveraged to identify anomalies indicative of electricity theft. However, challenges in the benchmark ETD include overfitting and a high incidence of false positives (FPs) resulting from incorrect usage patterns formed by considering only electricity consumption patterns without accounting for external factors that contribute to variations in normal consumption patterns. Further investigation is required to precisely detect instances of electricity theft, thereby minimizing nontechnical losses and forecasting future electricity demand to maintain a stable supply. This study employs a master energy meter located on the transformer side to monitor the amount of energy distributed to the region. Zones with a high likelihood of energy theft are detected by comparing the sum of readings from all the smart meters with the readings from the master energy meter installed on the HV of the substation transformer within the same electric feeder. Ensemble XGBoost machine-learning algorithm and K-Means algorithm are used for the classification of malicious and nonmalicious samples and grouping similar types of consumers together, respectively. This makes the proposed model resistant to false-positive rates caused by changes in usage patterns that aren’t done on purpose. Furthermore, energy thieves are identified by detecting anomalies in consumption behavior while maintaining constant internal and external environmental variables. This novel model proposed here mitigates the FP rate found in the present research of electricity usage data. Our approach outperforms support vector machines, convolution neural network, and logistic regression in simulations. Precision, F1-score, recall, Matthews Correlation Coefficient, Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC)-Area Under The Curve (AUC), and Precision Recal (PR)-Area Under The Curve (AUC) validate our model. The simulation results show that the proposed K-Means-LSTM-XGBoost model improved the classifier’s F1-score, precision, and recall to 93.75%, 95.16%, and 92.38%, respectively. Our model classifies huge time series data with high precision and can be utilized by the utility for real time electricity theft detection.

Deep Anomaly Detection Framework Utilizing Federated Learning for Electricity Theft Zero-Day Cyberattacks.

Smart power grids suffer from electricity theft cyber-attacks, where malicious consumers compromise their smart meters (SMs) to downscale the reported electricity consumption readings. This problem costs electric utility companies worldwide considerable financial burdens and threatens power grid stability. Therefore, several machine learning (ML)-based solutions have been proposed to detect electricity theft; however, they have limitations. First, most existing works employ supervised learning that requires the availability of labeled datasets of benign and malicious electricity usage samples. Unfortunately, this approach is not practical due to the scarcity of real malicious electricity usage samples. Moreover, training a supervised detector on specific cyberattack scenarios results in a robust detector against those attacks, but it might fail to detect new attack scenarios. Second, although a few works investigated anomaly detectors for electricity theft, none of the existing works addressed consumers' privacy. To address these limitations, in this paper, we propose a comprehensive federated learning (FL)-based deep anomaly detection framework tailored for practical, reliable, and privacy-preserving energy theft detection. In our proposed framework, consumers train local deep autoencoder-based detectors on their private electricity usage data and only share their trained detectors' parameters with an EUC aggregation server to iteratively build a global anomaly detector. Our extensive experimental results not only demonstrate the superior performance of our anomaly detector compared to the supervised detectors but also the capability of our proposed FL-based anomaly detector to accurately detect zero-day attacks of electricity theft while preserving consumers' privacy.