Advanced Smart Metering for Electricity Theft Detection and Power Monitoring

Electricity theft is a major problem that causes financial losses for utility companies and household users. To address this issue, we propose an IoT-based solution that detects electricity theft by bypassing or hooking methods. The proposed system utilizes a current measuring and comparing approach to monitor energy consumption indirectly from the electric pole to an intermediate distributor box and then to individual houses. The system periodically measures the current in the distributor box and electric meter and posts the data to the server database. During installation, the user's details are stored in the server database through a user-friendly mobile application, including the address, latitude, longitude using mobile GPS. The system uses statistical algorithms to compare the current values from the distributor box and electric meter. If a marginal difference between the currents is detected, the system identifies electricity theft and alerts the authorized mobile application with the user's details and shutdowns the electricity flow for particular that area.