Turn off circuit breaker. Turn off all your circuit breakers, then go look at your meter. If it is still running, it means something is drawing power from between the meter and the electrical panel. That’s a good indication that power is being stolen.

How is power theft done?

Direct hooking from line



What’s known as “cable hooking” is the most used method. 80% of global power theft is by direct tapping from the line. The consumer taps into a power line from a point ahead of the energy meter. This energy consumption is unmeasured and procured with or without switches.

Is stealing energy Illegal?





Energy theft is dangerous and illegal. Stealing electricity and natural gas is dangerous and it’s also against the law. It is illegal to tamper with electric or natural gas service, or reconnect it.

How is power theft detected?

Power theft is normally done by two methods that is bypassing or hooking. So to detect it, a system (current measuring and comparing) is proposed in which the household distribution of current is done indirectly from the electric pole to an intermediate distributor box and then to the individual houses.

How do you check for energy theft?

The traditional detection methods of power theft mainly rely on the scheduled operations of technicians who work in power supply enterprises. The operation goes with reading the electricity meter and then recording, counting, and performing manual analysis and calculation.

What is classed as stealing electricity?

Electricity theft occurs when an individual tampers with their electricity supply or meter so that the correct usage isn’t recorded accurately. Some may even try to bypass their meter completely so that it doesn’t record any usage at all.

How do I report an illegal power connection?





If you come across any illegal connections, report them to Eskom on 08600 37566 (ESKOM) or SMS Crime Line on 32211. Educate your children about illegal connections.

How do smart meters detect electricity theft?

With IoT, meters can be embedded with theft detection systems that raise an alarm to the utility as soon as an attempt of magnetic tampering or physical damage is detected. This is done using Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a system for the functioning of smart meters that report anomalies in real-time.

What can smart meters detect?

A smart meter is an electronic device that records information such as consumption of electric energy, voltage levels, current, and power factor. Smart meters communicate the information to the consumer for greater clarity of consumption behavior, and electricity suppliers for system monitoring and customer billing.

Can electricity wireless?

WPT, or wireless power transmission, is the transmission of electrical power from one point to another through a vacuum or the air, without the need for wires or other physical means. WPT can be used, conceivably, to provide instantaneous power delivery or continuous delivery of energy on demand.

How do you know if someone is using your electricity?



Take a look at the wire that runs between your meter and your house (don’t touch it!). If you notice anything odd, like extra wires or connector clips, there’s a chance that someone’s tampered with it. Also, be on the look-out for any wires connecting your home to your neighbour’s. Damage to your meter.

What causes illegal electricity connections?

An illegal electricity connection is made when a person attaches their home’s electrical circuit to the national grid without a meter. This is done without the consent or knowledge of Eskom.

Is bypassing electric meter illegal?

Cheating your meter to avoid paying your bills is electricity theft. This is a serious crime with severe consequences, including prison sentences and fines.

How can I cheat on my electric bill?



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Can you fake meter readings?

Tampering with the meter is effectively cheating the meter as it gives false results so that you pay less (or nothing) for gas usage.” The same can apply to electric meters and giving false readings could result in a fine or even imprisonment.

How do I know if my electric meter is tampering?

There are numerous ways of tampering an energy meter, physically. However, we can easily identify the theft of electricity by inspecting the energy meter through the presence of physical evidence such as external shunt wires, remote or relay circuits etc.

How can you avoid power theft in bypassing the meter?

Meter can be powered off by removing all the voltage connections. There are many ways to bypass an energy meter. The most common way is by putting a jumper (Figure 6) in meter terminal such that connection is bypassed and the energy consumption is not registered. This kind of meter bypass can be easily detected.

How do you catch meter tampering?



Identify Odometer Tampering

  1. Check the original service history. …
  2. Look for figure prints or smudge marks on the inside of the odometer. …
  3. No car dashboard has spare switches. …
  4. Look for odometer replacement sticker in and around driver’s doorjamb.