Anti-Theft Electricity

Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering

Energy theft is one of the most important concerns related to the smart grid implementation. It is estimated that utility companies lose more than $25 billion every year due to energy theft around the world [4]. Electricity theft is closely related to governance indicators, with higher levels of theft in countries without effective accountability, political instability, low government effectiveness and high levels of corruption [1]. The study estimates the Fixed Effects models through the least squares dummy variable (LSDV) technique and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM). Our results indicate that per capita income has significant negative and electricity price a positive effect on electricity theft with sufficiently high coefficient values. The probability of detection variable appears with a positive sign in both estimations indicating a poor deterrence. The results of LSDV show a positive impact of fine on conviction on electricity theft. But in GMM estimation, this variable appears with a right sign. The results from both models are robust in the case of load shedding and temperature variables [2].

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