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POWER THEFT PREVENTION IN DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM USING SMART

DEVICES

Article in International Journal of Applied Engineering Research · September 2015

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 International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, ISSN 0973-4562 Vol. 10 No.42 (2015)
© Research India Publications; httpwww.ripublication.comijaer.htm

POWER THEFT PREVENTION IN DISTRIBUTION

SYSTEM USING SMART DEVICES
G.Sangeetha bharath2, S.Muthu3
Dr.S.Thangalakshmi1 Final year EEE, GKM College of engineering and
HOD-EEE Dept., GKM College of engineering and Technology, new perungalathur, Chennai-63.
Technology, new perungalathur, Chennai-63. sangeethabharathsb@gmail.com , s.muthu1994@gmail.com
eeehod@gkmcet.net.in 9750155650, 9940403927

Abstract— Power theft is one of the major issues of electricity controlling devices and the issues related to power theft had been
transmission and distribution. It is prominent in developing discussed taking into account of the non-technical losses [3]. A
countries and pilots to an annual losses of around INR 3000 crores predictive model for power theft detection in distribution
in India. It is estimated that power theft accounts to 1.5% of Gross network with smart meters had been proposed. Also, a statistical
Domestic Production (GDP) which is significant and cannot be
estimation procedure is used to minimize the error and noise in
negligible. Power theft prevention is a system used to perceive and
prevent illegal load tappings on distribution lines. Many schemes the measuring process [4]. The influence of low maintenance
are available for the same and a scheme using smart electric and transformer failure on electricity theft had been analyzed
devices employing electronic energy meter is used in this paper. A [5]. The design of smart distribution unit for ring main
real time comparison method is used to compare the current at distribution system with intelligent electrical device module had
L.V (low voltage) side of the distribution transformer with that of been proposed. In addition, a two relay protection algorithm for
the consumption of connected legal consumers. A wireless zigbee detecting and locating the fault had been analyzed [6]. Various
module is employed for this purpose. An automatic control unit is methods on the impact of power theft and implementation of
used to inject frequency disturbances in L.V lines, after different devices had been described and discussed in literature
disconnecting the legal consumers’ loads once power theft is
[7-11].
detected. A simple design for single phase distribution system is
proposed for analysis and same can be implemented for three
phase system by adding relevant features.
II. REASONS THAT PERSUADES ILLEGAL POWER
Index Terms— Power theft, Smart electronic devices, Electronic CONSUMPTION
energy meter, Load tapping, Distribution lines, Zigbee module, There are many reasons that encourage people to steal
Automatic control unit. (Key words) electricity. Among them the socio-economic reasons induces
I. INTRODUCTION people to a great extent in electricity theft. A common opinion
amongst many people is that, it is fraudulent to steal something
There is a huge demand for electricity and there is from their neighbor but not from the government and
always a mismatch between supply and demand. Satisfactory government aided private utility company. In addition, other
operation of power systems requires overall coordination of all reasons that provokes illegal consumptions are: a] Due to high
the power system components. Attention and focus are given for amount of tariff collected from consumers, which leads them to
generating power using both renewable and conventional steal electricity to escape from vast electricity consumption
sources of energy. But the transmission of power also plays a bills amongst most of the peoples. b] Poor financial condition
vital role in conveying power with minimal loss to the in various countries has implied its effect directly on common
consumers. Hence proper maintenance of transmission as well man. The following table-1, shows the energy prices in states
as distribution network is mandatory for efficient and effective
distribution of power. Though the losses associated with Table 1: Electricity tariff details of various states of India.
generation can be exactly formulated, there is no proper and
precise quantification of transmission and distribution losses.
Many parameters are involved and hence more data is required STATE MIN TARIFF (in Rs/ MAX TARIFF (in Rs/
in addition to the sending end data. Also it is not only the kWh) kWh)
Haryana 5.85 6.35
technical parameters that influence transmission and distribution
Jammu & Kashmir 2.55 4.55
losses, but also the non-technical parameters. Power theft is one Rajasthan 5.60 6.25
such parameter in developing countries. In India, the power theft Himachal Pradesh 4.70 4.60 / kVAh
is highly significant and it is approximately 420MW accounting Gujarat 4.25 4.75
to heavy revenue loss to power utilities [1]. A design is proposed Punjab 6.57 6.71
Delhi 8.80 9.95 / kVAh
for detecting the power theft with an automatic Circuit breaker
Maharashtra 8.93 10.39
and disseminating the information to concerned authorities Chandigarh 4.30 4.70
using wireless radio link [2]. The limitations in electricity theft Uttarakhand 4.00 4.55

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Madhya Pradesh 4.50 5.40 exposure to new technologies. The figure.2 illustrates the
Uttar Pradesh 2.75 7.10 deviations in installed capacity to demand.
Jharkhand 1.35 5.20
Goa 3.15 4.50
Kerala 4.70 9.30
Karnataka 6.25 7.75
Maharashtra 7.83 14.19/
Odisha 5.10 6.90
West Bengal 5.40 8.12
Bihar 2.30 5.70
Tripura 5.50 6.95
Arunachal Pradesh 5.00 5.00
Assam 5.75 6.00
Tamilnadu 5.00 8.05
Andhra Pradesh 5.40 9.13
Manipur 3.80 5.60

III. ELECTRICITY THEFT METHODS

There are various types of electricity power theft in meters,
cables, transformers and overhead lines. Some of them are listed
below:
• Tampering with meters and seals
• By-passing the meters
• Damaging or removing meters wires
• Illegal tapping to bare wires or underground cables.
• In Cables Transformers
• Illegal terminal taps of overhead lines on the low
voltage side of the transformer.
• Billing irregularities made by meter readers.
• Other unpaid bills by individual customers,
government and private organizations.
Figure 2. Installed capacity vs total demand.
V. PROPOSED MODERN LAYOUT
The new layout of distribution system is based on combining
wireless network with existing electrical grid. The architecture
consists of five sections namely, Automatic controlling unit,
Zigbee module, Current transformer, circuit breaker, Frequency
disturbance generator. The proposed new layout is shown in
Figure3.

Figure 3. Proposed layout

VI. ANALYSIS OF LOSSES

Figure 1. Electricity theft methods
IV. IMPACTS OF ELECTRICITY THEFT
Electricity theft causes dangerous and severe impacts.
Generally electricity theft affects the utility company revenue
and then its customers. The major impact of electricity theft is
leads can’t able to meet the load demand by installed capacity.
It’s also leads to generation unit overloading. It creates lack of
funds to operate and to manage the facilities and leads to lack of
In electrical power systems losses are acquired in two ways:
• Technical losses and
• Non-technical losses (Cost-effective losses)
Technical Losses: - Technical losses will always arise as the
behavior of electricity transport means that, no power system
can be flawless in its delivery of energy to the end customer.
The direct power loss. Ploss (t) in a transmission line can be

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 International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, ISSN 0973-4562 Vol. 10 No.42 (2015)
© Research India Publications; httpwww.ripublication.comijaer.htm
expressed as:
P (t) P (t) P (t) loss source load = − 1

Where Psource (t) is the direct power that the source injects into
the transmission line and Pload (t) is the direct power consumed
by the Load at the other end of the transmission lines.
Non-Technical Losses (Cost-effective Losses):- Losses
incurred by equipment failure are quite rare. These include
losses from equipment struck by lightning, equipment damaged
by time and neglect. Best power companies do not allow
equipment to failure in such a way and fundamentally all
companies keep some form of maintenance policies. Other
possible causes of cost-effective losses are: I] Errors occurs in
accounting and record keeping that misrepresent technical
information. II] Mistakes in technical loss calculations. III]
Electricity bill non-payment by consumer.
Fig 5. Block diagram of power theft prevention system
VII. IMPLEMENTAT ION OF ZIGBEE BASED POWER
THEFT PREVENTION METHOD
Using zigbee, the illegal usage of power can be solved
electronically without any human control and wirelessly. The
simple working principle of this method is the comparison of
the current passed through the distribution transformer current
sensor value and the total algebraic sum of current sensor values
the consumers connected to that transformer. A current
transformer and circuit breaker with ZIGBEE module is placed
at each of the consumer terminal. It measures the total current
consumed by the consumers and it transfers to the substation. It
is compared with the current sensor reading of the current
sensor placed at the distribution transformer. If both the values
are equivalent, then there is no theft (Transmission and
distribution losses are neglected). However if the value of the
transformer current sensor reading is greater than the
consumer’s current sensor reading, then the theft is acquired.
By the help of this mismatching error readings, we can detect Fig 6. Circuit diagram of power theft prevention system
the power theft. After conformation we generate frequency
disturbances using cyclo-converter and given to illegal A.Current sensor:
customer to damage their loads. A current sensor is a device that produces a signal
proportional to the electric current (AC or DC) sensed in a wire.
The generated signal can be either analog or digital and the
signal parameter can be either current or voltage. The measured
current can be displayed in ammeter and is applied for
controlling and protection purposes. Sometimes this data is
used in data acquisition system for further energy management.
B.Cyclo-Converter:
A cyclo-converter (CCV) or a cyclo-inverter converts a
constant voltage, constant frequency AC waveform to another
AC waveform of a lower frequency by producing the output
waveform from segments of the AC supply without an
intermediate DC link. There are two main types of CCVs,
circulating current type or blocking mode type, most
commercial high power products being of the blocking mode
type.

Fig 4.Flow chart of power theft prevention system

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© Research India Publications; httpwww.ripublication.comijaer.htm
C.Zigbee:

Zigbee is a universal wireless standard that enables

smart gadgets to work to work together. It is widely used in
commercial and industrial application because of its benefits
and intended to exchange data through hostile RF environment.
Incorporating the facilities like direct sequence spread
spectrum, low duty cycle, low latency, encryption of data and
supporting multiple network topologies are simpler as well as
easier with zigbee. The zigbee module of IEEE 802.15.4
standard is used in this paper. It is best suited for low cost and
low power applications. Recent trends like smart energy, smart Fig 8. Detection system mat lab model
grid, automatic meter reading, lighting control and control of
Simulation output:
high voltage AC transmission lines use Zigbee for controlling
purpose. It enables to get high performance with ultra-low
power with the help of smart RF transceiver.

VIII. MATHEMATICAL MODEL

Whenever input current is passing from distribution
transformer to the consumer at that time if the total amount of
current is not consumed by the consumer then there is
possibility of thefting of energy.

Fig 9. Legal consumer side waveform

∑ Iin = ∑ Iout No Theft
∑ Iin ≠ ∑ Iout Theft

Iin- Input current to the distribution line from

distribution transformer.
Iout-Current consumed by the consumer.

IX. DETECTION AND PREVENTION- MATLAB MODEL

Fig 10. Illegal consumer side waveform after generation of
frequency disturbances.

Fig 7. Cyclo converter mat lab model
X. CONCLUSION
This paper explains various circumstances, obstacles in the
scheme, progress, arrangement, development, and maintenance
of electricity theft controlling devices. In addition, various issues
that provokes people to steal electricity are discussed. The
various reasons and causes of electricity power theft is analyzed.
A wide study on the existing methods of power theft detection
and prevention is made. This paper focuses on power theft by
hooking in low voltage lines. A scheme of injecting frequency
disturbance in distribution line for avoiding illegal power
consumption. A wireless zigbee module of IEEE 802.15.4
standard is employed for this purpose.

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7. Tariff details domestic:
https://www.bijlibachao.com/news/domestic-
electricity-lt-tariff-slabs-and-rates-for-all-states-in-
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8. Tariff details commercial:
https://www.bijlibachao.com/news/commercial-
electricity-tariff-slabs-and-rates-for-all-states-in-
india-in-2015.html
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http://www.theigc.org/project/local-level-estimates-
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http://www.researchgate.net/publication/227415458_
Electricity_theft_Overview_issues_prevention_and_a
_smart_meter_based_approach_to_control_theft
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http://www.researchgate.net/publication/241175207_
Measures_and_setbacks_for_controlling_electricity_t
heft