CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
A wise person once said if it has value, someone will attempt to steal it. This is true with
electricity, and the problem is hardly new. As early as 1899, the Association of Edison
Illuminating Companies addressed the problem of tampering with screws that adjusted meter
damping magnets. Energy theft involves interfering with an electric revenue meter and/or
associated supply equipment to avoid or reduce the true payment due for energy supplied.
Energy theft is generally estimated by subtracting energy sold and calculated distribution
energy loss from metered energy into the distribution system. Historic estimates from such
calculations and field audits reveal energy theft typically ranges from 0.5 to 3 percent of retail
revenues in developed countries and much higher in developing countries. This wide range of
estimated energy theft reflects the difficult nature of quantifying such a cloaked activity.
Nevertheless, with electricity sales in the U.S. alone about $300 billion annually, the lowest
estimate shows electricity theft still costs consumers and utilities well over $1 billion each
year.
Energy theft goes by several names but typically occurs in two ways-diversion and
tampering. Meter diversion involves bypassing energy around the meter such as tapping into
utility conductors before the revenue meter or jumping around it as shown in the photo at
right. Tampering causes the revenue meter to create false consumption information. Examples
include impeding the meter from making an accurate reading, weekend meter swaps, or
turning the meter upside-down (inverted) temporarily to make it run backwards. [1]
Electricity theft in Nigeria and other countries of the world is escalating by the day and is a
phenomenon that needs to be eradicated if power system in such nation is going to be stable
and reliable. It has been discovered that due to the ineffectiveness of the dominant post-paid
(analog) meter in most countries- especially the underdeveloped ones- electricity theft has
been carried out by consumers effortlessly; the meters are electromechanical with poor
accuracy and lack configuration. [2]. Energy theft is in effect much more pronounced in the
developed world due to the exposure and practical knowledge that the consumers may have
acquired. [3]. It is also as a result of aid received from certain corrupt and or retired electrical
distribution staffs that has led to the escalation of this menace. Legitimate consumers are the
ones that bear the brunt for this misbehaviour as it is expedient that someone has to pay for
the power supplied and this also poses threat to the distribution transformers, low tension
lines and even the high tension lines since they were not designed to accommodate such extra
load that will be coming from the thieves; and so these transformers and transmission lines
often get damaged or continuously breaking down due to overloading. In the past it was very
difficult to detect energy theft by the power distribution companies since they could not
discern when and where these power losses were going to. [4]
The introduction of the prepaid meter has to an extent minimised the theft but yet it is still at
the increase. The recent technological invention in the eradication of electricity theft is the
smart meter. The smart meter has the capability of: detecting theft and tampering. It is very
much different from the prepaid meters mounted in respective homes; it is located at key
points on electricity distribution poles and has access to all prepaid meters that are connected

to that pole and also acts as a comparator, comparing the energy leaving from the pole to that
been supplied to all the prepaid meters connected to it. Its tampering detection feature makes
it possible for the meter to notify the energy distribution company when it has been remove
from its place, opened or otherwise manipulated. [5].
This work aims at fully eradicating electricity theft or minimising it to a reasonable degree. A
new feature will be added to the smart meter and that is a configuration that will enable it
recognise every legitimate prepaid meter connected to it and if in a situation whereby an
unrecognised electrical branch is introduced into the circuit, it send and information to the
Arduino which signals the authority. Also an anonymous tip line should be set up through
which citizens could contact the authorities should they see anyone involved or intending to
steal electricity but the informants identity should not be disclosed. [6]
1.2
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Electricity industries over the years has suffered setbacks and this is majorly as a result of
energy theft. In most countries the government pays huge subsidy in order to allow for the
continual operation of these industries and for supplying of energy at the stipulated rate.
Instead of the electricity industries to be asset to the nation, they are become liability.
1.3
OBJECTIVES OF THIS WORK
This work is primarily aimed at:

Designing smart meters to be installed on every distribution pole

Designing an Arduino which continuously monitors the meter reading and sends the
message to user and utility company
To automate the system of billing of the energy meter

1.4 JUSTIFICATION
Developing this design can meet various purposes which include; ensuring that the causes of
theft such as absence of accountability amongst workers, illegal tapping of electricity, meter
tampering and bypassing is eliminated as the project covers these areas. The design will
enable the reception of information about the meter reading by both the end user and the
power sector. The accomplishment of this work is that the smart energy meter produced will
balance electricity supplied and that legally utilised.