1. INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICITY THEFT
Electricity
theft is a problem all over the world, and utilities have been struggling to
find ways to combat it. As
electricity becomes costlier by the day, the issue of generation .transmission
and transmission of electricity has assumed great enormity .In recent years;
electric theft has become a major concern. Electrical theft is a substantial
problem worldwide. The electrical theft costs electric utilities billions of
rupees per year. In some countries the problem is far more severe, with a
substantial proportion of electricity is not being billed. Electricity theft
occurs in many ways. One of the ways is the tampering of meters & devices
within the meter box. In India only 10% of power bills actually paid because of
theft and technical losses, and the State Electricity Boards effectively
bankrupt, the power sector is at a standstill. Solving the sector’s problem is
key to India’s future growth and success. The engineers are often trying to
obtain a reliable solution on this grave problem. Researches are done to
develop new technologies which are not prone to tampering and would read the
meter reading correctly.
The MSEB is been using the ToD
(Time of Day) meters which are often prone to tampering and requires frequent
note down of meter reading . The efficiency of meter is not that much
reasonable. Also the major problem is poor economy which is unable to implement
new techniques which are little costlier. . Many of the energy audit reports
indicate rampant theft of energy as the reason for unaccounted losses. These
so-called commercial losses are attributed to slackness in billing and revenue
realization, apart from metering deficiencies and errors in energy accounting.
Several steps have been initiated by utilities for curbing the theft of
electrical energy. There is a need to review the existing laws & practices
related to for prosecution of offenders in such cases, legal implications and
Potential loopholes, as well as the need to train inspecting officers in the
associated techno-legal matters.
The following measures are a better
solution to this problem and have greater advantages than the current measures
adopted by SEB’s in India.
2. CONTROL MEASURES ON ELECTRICITY THEFT:
A] Automatic Meter Reading :
What is Automated Meter Reading (AMR) and how does it work?
Automated Meter Reading allows us to automatically read
meters, using very short-range radio frequencies similar to a garage door
opener. Once AMR is installed, a van will drive down your street and capture
your monthly meter reading through a radio signal. It will no longer be
necessary to enter your property to read your meter(s). Each AMR meter will
have a unique identification code. The reading on your meter will be transmitted
through radio frequencies to a piece of equipment in the van.
Benefits :
Ø
Actual meter readings
every month, for every customer, including bi-monthly customers.
Ø
More complete
consumption history for estimates on the rare occasions when we do use them.
Ø
No need to access your
meter on a monthly basis.
Ø
When a reading is
obtained, the accuracy rate is 100%.
AMR offers both utilities and their customer's key
tangible benefits :
Benefits of AMR to utilities include :
Ø Reduced
meter reading costs
Ø Ability
to access difficult-to-read meters
Ø Improved
customer service
Ø Reduced
percentage of estimated bills
Ø Improved
meter reader safety
Ø Implementation
of real-time pricing
Ø Reduced
read-to-bill time
Ø Distribution
automation
Ø Improved
fraud detection
Reduced Meter Reading Costs :
Conventional meter reading is a
labor-intensive process and can represent a considerable percentage of a
utility's operating cost. In addition to the labor component, ancillary
elements such as vehicle costs, insurance claims, uniforms, etc. are recurring
costs that can be avoided by using a technology solution. Further, in many
areas public utility commissions have placed limitations on the number of times
that a utility can estimate a meter reading.
Ability to Access Difficult-to-read Meters
:
In many cases, utility meters are
located within the customer's premises. This is particularly true for water
meters in areas where the temperatures may cause the meter to freeze. Accessing
these meters often requires the meter reader to gain physical access to the
meter to read it. With economic conditions today, the problem of gaining access
to the home has grown as more and more people left the home for work. For
example, the proportion of US households unoccupied during the day has risen
from around 25% in 1960 to over 50% today. This has led to a large rise in
estimated bills, re-reads, lost revenues, and undetected meter tampering or
theft.
Improved Customer Service :
In a deregulated environment,
customer satisfaction and retention are key components of a successful utility.
AMR can help utilities improve customer service by providing timely and
accurate bills, automating outage notification, reducing customer disruptions
caused by manual reads and improving the process of resolving meter reading
disputes. Additionally, there is heightened customer sensitivity about allowing
strangers access into homes.
Improved Meter Reader Safety :
Whether it is a dog, a high crime
area or a confined space, meter readers today can easily find themselves in unsafe
environments. AMR helps to reduce the threat of dangerous situations by
automating the meter data collection process.
Implementation of Real-time Pricing :
Variable rate tariffs based on the
time of day can be used to encourage consumers to shift their consumption of
valuable resources to off-peak hours, while also discouraging the usage during
peak hours. This enables energy producers to reduce the maximum capacity of
their plant and therefore achieve a better return on capital.
Reduced Read-to-bill Time :
AMR allows utilities to reduce
their read-to-bill time, by tightly integrating the meter data capture and
billing process. In many cases, improved meter data acquisition permits
utilities to increase billing frequency or offer more billing options to their
customers.
Distribution Automation :
AMR can allow utilities to provide
better customer service by enabling a greater level of functionality over their
distribution network, including: remote credits to pre-payment meters, remote
connect/disconnect services, tamper/leak detection and outage notification.
Improved Fraud Detection :
Improved Fraud Detection :
AMR allows utilities to detect
whether or not a meter has been tampered with or if wires have been cut at the
meter. The system will flag the account with a code notifying the meter reader
to investigate the situation.
Benefits of AMR to the Utilities'
Customer :
Ø Accurate
billing statements and improved customer service through the reduction of
estimated readings and billings
Ø Improved
meter reading accuracy through the reduction of errors from manual readings
Ø Improved
security because the meter readers no longer need to gain access to the
property or households
Ø Customers
can move more easily between different rates creating greater choices
Ø Improved
information on energy consumption for tracking purposes and conservation
AMR
Gaining Popularity :
One of the technologies that can
play a key role in better control over electricity theft is automatic meter
reading, better known as "AMR." While AMR systems have been
around for years, the industry is finally beginning to mature and electric
cooperatives are increasingly incorporating AMR into their automation
strategies. Why the renewed interest in AMR and why are so many countries
electricity boards are implementing AMR projects? There are several key
factors that are driving the wide-scale deployment of AMR systems, including:
i)
They are becoming more comfortable with the
technology. Many early pilot projects have been successful and met the
cooperative’s objectives expectations.
ii)
Experience and studies have now shown
that AMR provides even greater savings by significantly reducing meter-related
service orders, allowing the cooperative to respond to outages quicker, and
reducing the theft of electricity.
iii)
AMR systems are now being integrated
into outage management systems and voice response systems. This
allows them to be more responsive to
its members and gather additional data on outages so future outages can be
minimized.
iv)
Many AMR systems now can provide daily
reads and also capture interval data on Commercial/Industrial (C/I)
accounts. This data can be invaluable in responding to high bill
complaints, developing new and innovative rate options, and gathering data for
load management and curtailment programs.
v)
Initial deployments of AMR were normally
targeted to hard-to-read accounts and high-turnover accounts such as apartment
complexes. Once they have realized the benefits that AMR offered, many
have moved forward with full-scale deployments.
vi)
Lower interest rates are reducing the
financing costs for projects.
B] Remote Meter Reading :
With
rapid increase of consumers of electricity due to the expansion of the
distribution systems in developing countries, many utilities are looking for
solutions that will improve overall operating efficiency and provide customers
with better service and more choice. In the case of hard to read meters, a
solution for utilities has been found by the use of Automatic Meter Reading
system, which transmits data from meters over a transmission channel to a
central monitoring device. Remotely reading meters has distinct advantages such
as to protect employees from hazardous situation, to identify power theft, to
avoid possibility of human errors, to provide flexible billing operations and
provide archive information to help resolve billing disputes. In addition to
these advantages, maintenance Engineer can use information to size
transformers, identify power outages, to reduce line losses, detect line
problems before they become serious, save on manpower and laborer etc.Several
communication technologies have been investigated for best services of
utilities. Some of them are power line carrier communication, satellite
communication, and telephone and radio communications. In addition to these methods
fiber optics and cellular options have also been introduced in the market.
Since
the power distribution networks provide an essential and reliable electrical
link from power substation to end users ranging from industrial plants to
residential homes, distribution line carrier communication can be applied to
data communication for remote meter reading systems.
The
main objective in this project is to assess the feasibility of high frequency
signal transmission from a substation to an end customer. The possibility of
transmitting digital signal on distribution line carrier channels is to be
tested by building a model of an existing distribution feeder. A range of high
frequency signals are injected in one phase and the propagation responses at
different location along the feeder are to be measured. Finally using line
carrier equipment, data transmission is to be checked on the existing feeder.
Remote sensing can be defined as
the technique of obtaining information about objects through the analysis of
data collected by instruments that are not in physical contact with the objects
of investigation.
C]
RFID can Control Electricity Theft :
Electricity theft is a problem all
over the world, and utilities have been struggling to find ways to combat it.
They may have found a new weapon in the war against cheats: RFID.
Metering systems to secure
residential electricity meters. The technology would allow utilities to
determine from a remote location when a meter has been broken into.
The meter application represents a new market for RFID Smart & Secure seals, which have an embedded RFID tag with encrypted data. Up to now, the seals have been used mainly to secure physical assets .The key to make it possible to detect tampering remotely. New solid state meters, which are replacing the conventional meters with dials and wheels, have an automatic meter reading (AMR) module. These allow the utilities to get information from the meter from a central station using wireless technology.
The meter application represents a new market for RFID Smart & Secure seals, which have an embedded RFID tag with encrypted data. Up to now, the seals have been used mainly to secure physical assets .The key to make it possible to detect tampering remotely. New solid state meters, which are replacing the conventional meters with dials and wheels, have an automatic meter reading (AMR) module. These allow the utilities to get information from the meter from a central station using wireless technology.
The AMR modules can detect if
someone tries to use magnets or other technology to rig the meter, but the
utilities often have to figure out whether there has been a false tampering
signal. Smart & Secure will enable them to get true physical tamper protection."
Introduction to RFID :
Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) is the use of radio frequencies or thereabouts to read data
electronically on small portable devices, "tags", with few problems
of orientation or obscuration. Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS), employs
tags of similar appearance and are typically used to detect theft from
libraries and shops. However, this is not FID because there is no data on the
tag.
RFID has been in existence for
fifty years but only one billion or so RFID tags have been sold. By contrast,
six billion EAS tags are sold every year across the world. The difference is
mainly caused by the tag price differential. EAS tags cost only a few cents and
some are now available at 1.25 cents each in volume. RFID tags have only recently
dropped to an average price of one dollar. The infrastructure needed to read
RFID tags is also more expensive. However, it is now realized that satisfactory
paybacks of 1 - 2 years are being obtained even with RFID tags costing one
dollar or more and the substantial associated costs of infrastructure. IN
addition, much larger order sizes and some redesign have led to RFID tags being
delivered at 10 - 30 cents for a wide range of applications.
Another development has been the
successful employment of RFID for applications where considerable social and
other benefits are created. Often these cannot easily be expressed as a
financial payback, airport security and error prevention in hospitals being
examples.
RFID
is best considered as an enabling technology rather than a product. Properly
applied it can:
Ø Save
lives and costs.
Ø Reduce
illness and crime.
Ø Provide
new consumer benefits.
Ø Offer
opportunities for premium pricing.
This is only the beginning. This
wide repertoire creates the need for a databank of case histories. It is
difficult enough to find applications in one's own chosen sector such as
manufacturing or transport. It is near impossible to cut it other ways, and
access, for example, where long range tags have been used successfully, or what
is happening in, say Germany, if that is one's interest. This evolving database
addresses these needs for relevant case histories.
D] Other
Methods to Control Electricity Theft :
Ø RMU
(Remote Meter Unit) :
This small card can be inserted into both electronic and electromechanical
electricity meters. The RMU records the consumption pulses coming from the
meter, logs the information, and periodically sends the data to the gateway
over the power lines, using power bus. The RMU also has a 1 Amp relay for
remote disconnection, a sensor to detect tampering, and two outputs for
communicating rate changes to the meter.
Ø Gateway : An
industrial PC that is generally installed in the Medium to Low voltage
substation. The gateway reads the data from the RMUs over the low voltage power
lines and stores it in a local database. Communication between the Gateway and
the utility’s back-office network is done either via modem (telephone, GSM, or
radio), or directly via Ethernet (TCP/IP).
Ø Meter Gate :
This is the client interface for the bi-directional communications between the
utility’s databases, and the deployed Gateways in the substations. It available
for both Windows and Linux platforms.
These systems help utilities reduce
meter reading, invoicing, and customer service costs. The remote disconnect
feature is especially useful for areas with high customer turnover, and the
detailed consumption data will help detect and eliminate electricity theft and
losses.
Ø Smart Card Prepayment
Metering System is a new
billing methodology that combining a superior electronic customer account
management system, state-of-the-art metering equipment and smart card
technology, that provide a Power Utility a substantial saving both in manpower
and money while providing new payment option for the customers. It reduces
operational cost with paperless revenue collection system and can even replace
any electromechanical meter in the market. In this system, the meter used Smart
Card as the medium of communication with the customer, the utility and
authorized Charging Station. The Smart Card Prepayment Metering system not only
replaces the conventional meters and their associated billing system, but also
the meter readers and revolutionalised the administration of the revenue
collection system. For the conventional system, the bill is produced with the
help of a meter reader. The customer pays the utility based on the value stated
on the bill. In Smart Card Prepayment Metering System, the customer has
to buy the “credit” which is loaded onto a Smart Card, and use it to charge the
prepayment meter. The credit that has been loaded onto the meter will be
deducted according to tariff rate and electricity energy consumed. Basically,
the philosophy behind this system is “pay
as you use”. The system eliminates the need of sending a meter reader
to collect data at the customer premises. Instead as a customer inserts his
charged Smart Card into the meter and the information such as total kWh
consumption, previous 12-months kWh consumption, available credit and etc. is
then transferred by the meter to the card. The downloaded data will then be
transferred to the utility database once the customer recharges their card. The
various available software that can be embedded into the meter, the Smart Card
and the backend system together make the system very flexible and can cater to
any utility requirement. An electronic prepaid kWh meter will act as a “bank”,
as long as some credit is available inside the meter, electricity will be made
available to the customer. The level of credit inside the meter will be
deducted according to the tariff as programmed for the respective customer. The
Master Terminal together with the database at the Utility Office acts as the
“brain” of the system where all “policy” data such as block tariff, time of use
tariff and types of customer etc. are kept, updated and process.MIM Smart Card
Prepayment Metering System provides total revenue collection solution to
utilities and helps them to collect their revenue with the utmost efficiency.
Ø Electronic
Meter :
The demand for greater precision
and complexity of measurement has led to the development of various electronic
meters which can easily perform multiple mathematical functions through
integral circuits. Elimination of mechanical parts also helps to reduce
physical wear and improve reliability. Current Sensors or transformers are
often used to directly sense the current consumed. The greatest concern is the
precision of these devices, especially the precision over a wide temperature
range and current range.
Ø Digital
Meter :
A digital computerized meter will
be put in each consumer’s house as earlier meter and every month meter reader
will visit the consumer’s house and insert one digital card. The actual power
consumed by the consumer will be automatically loaded on the card which later
on will be downloaded in the computers kept at revenue section of the
department. This will help the department to supply actual bill amount to the
consumers. A new digital technology driven
meter called CMRI and SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Accusation) .With the
help of CMRI technology every consumer can be billed according to actual power
consumed by him. And later will help the department to detect how much power is
consumed in each station. Whereas, in SCADA technology a device will be put in
each power station which will give the details of actual power consumed in the
particular area. This will help the department to detect whether the department
is receiving actual revenue of that particular area and also it will help in
detecting whether department is utilizing the actual unit of power purchased. After successful implementation of these
technologies we can reduce 20%of losses due to theft.
3.
CONCLUSIONS
The problem of electricity is being
severe day by day as the cost of electricity is increasing day by day by the
losses occurring during generation transmission and due to theft. New
technologies are needed to be implemented to have a better control over this
problem. But it is observed that the energy theft is often occurring even we
have better control systems. AMR’s and other such meters expressed here are
emerged as new technology to have better control over tampering of meters but
the theft occurring by hooking the transmission lines is rather more severe with
no any technologies adopted to have control over it. Thus creating a new
opportunity and great need to produce new techniques adopted at reasonable cost
and better efficiency. Still, the AMR’s an above mentioned methods are also
having some of draw backs. To overcome tampering remote meter reading can be
implemented with electronic technologies such as that used in mobile
communication systems giving reading with greater accuracies and better
efficiency at lower installation and operating costs and would give readings at
central stations hence saving effort of note down of readings frequently by the
employee.
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