Executive Summary

This project presents a prototype system solution to the electricity theft detection, data acquisition and billing inspired by the architecture of “Smart Grid”. The energy sector in Pakistan has long been facing the gigantic problem of electricity theft. Theft is not only a major reason for load-shedding, but the financial loss occurring from theft also does not allow electricity companies to improve their distribution system. People steal electricity by hooking up a wire to overhead electricity cables, siphoning off power without paying for it. Another way people steal power is to slow down their meters. Power theft results in incessant load-shedding, financial losses and disruption in the lives of the people all over the country. Power theft is neither a new problem for Pakistan nor is unique. The developing countries in south Asia have been highly susceptible to such theft and the magnitude of the problem is particularly large in Pakistan. Non-paying consumers make electricity scarcer for the legitimate customers.

This project is about design and implementation of a prototype system for electricity theft detection and avoidance, automatic billing, loss calculation and control. This project is an amalgamation of software and hardware design with wireless detection and transformation of data to a centrally managed database installed at an appropriate location. The system will be implemented at Professors’ Colony Peshawar (Site allocated as Pilot Region by WAPDA) as a test case scenario and will install the prototype design for results and analysis. The idea is to implement an efficient system for billing and flow surveillance without end user intervention.