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Loss of revenue due to energy theft each year is a subject of serious debate. The International Utilities Revenue Protection Assn
(IURPA), a group of some 2000 representatives of over 400 utility companies worldwide, estimate energy theft in some countries is staggeringly high. For example 10-20% in Mexico, 10-16% in South America and 20-40% in India.
Some customers tamper with their service connections or meters to avoid paying their fair share. Covering these losses drives up everyone's cost of service.
But the problem does more than just increase the cost of electricity, tampering with an electric meter is dangerous. Attempts to bypass or tamper with electric meters can result in serious injury, shock, electrocution, fire, explosion or death. It poses serious danger to the thief, to people living nearby and to the utility employees. Meter tampering also constitutes a theft offence, which could result in criminal sanctions, including fines and/or imprisonment.
Revenue protection and loss prevention are hot topics now-a-days in the utility industry. For the first time the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant
Sinha, went into such details as the need for 100% metering, commercialisation of distribution, elimination of power theft and energy audit. At a recent meeting of chief ministers, several actions were identified, including the implementation of an effective management information system and elimination of power thefts in the next two years.
Full metering and preventing energy theft are the most essential elements of any process of reforms to be implemented.
"Put revenue protection on the front burner so you're not forgotten" said Mr. Michael J
Szilvagyi, Chairperson of IURPA. "It's important to be sure your revenue protection program continues to be solid." Mr. Szilvagyi believes a healthy revenue protection program is vital to any utility's bottom line. "For utilities to be competitive, they must use all their resources to effectively bill and collect revenue. You cannot be competitive if you're losing too much to theft, fraud and
uncollectibles. Since utilities can no longer rely on rate increases to offset losses, revenue protection becomes even more critical. Revenue recovery adds to shareholder value and the safety of the company's energy delivery system. It's like any other business, if you let dollars walk out the door, you're not going to be competitive." he said.
With the prevailing trend of theft of electrical energy going on unabated in the disguise of system loss, it will only be natural that increased generation of electricity will be corresponded to by a pro-rata incumbent in theft of electricity. Even it may not remain out of possibility that pro-rata quantum of electricity which is going to be added to the national grid may also be swallowed up by way of theft, as the experience of the past few years leads us to the painful fact that on the issue of theft of electricity, we are very much within a black hole.
Power Line Research estimates T&D losses across the country are as much as 30 to 40 percent. The Delhi Vidyut Board
(DVB) study provides evidence that most of these so-called T&D losses are plain and simple theft. Powerline also estimate that at least one-half and perhaps as much as two-thirds of T&D losses can be attributed to theft. The SEBs are thus losing at least 70 billion units and perhaps as much as 100 billion units due to electric theft. At current tariff this translates into a revenue loss of Rs.110 to Rs.160 billions. Even if half of the theft can be checked and prevented by an improved tamper evident meter sealing system and dedicated intelligence, most of the SEBs would be in profit.
According to a report, the trouble is that the most SEBs are so cash-strapped, they simply do not have the money to invest in better meters. They lose money because of meter that are easy to tamper with. But they cannot install tamper-proof meters as they do not have the money.
But the harsh fact is that lot of emphasis is given in selection of modern technology meters but no adequate attention has been paid on the tamper protecting security devices as yet. A mere piece of recycled plastic device named as plastic seals are employed as security seal which are useless whereas advanced range of tamper evident and barrier seals are available to protect the meters from being tamper. Even after replacement by third generation latest technology meter there will be need for reliable and advanced technology tamper evident seals and trained inspection as well as intelligence system. With a fraction of paise one and appropriate intelligence system in place, the problem of energy theft can be reduced drastically, smoothly and easily even with traditional and conventional meters.
What's the pay-off for paying attention to the little stuff? So much energy theft could be prevented by understanding seal basics and organizational objectives, choosing the right seal for its application, optimising the seal's use, adequately protecting the seal and seal data, providing effective training and support for meter seal inspectors, and honestly evaluating vulnerabilities. Just follow the procedures and you'll increase your revenue collections substantially." |
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SEAL BASICS
Tamper-indicating seals are often used to help detect theft and diversion, as well as meter tampering. Unlike locks, seals are not meant to physically impede unauthorized access or entry. Instead, they are meant to record that tampering took place.
The good news about seals is that--if used correctly--they can be very effective at detecting tampering. The bad news is that using them correctly can take a lot of work. You can’t mindlessly slap seals on a meter and expect them to magically solve all your theft and tampering problems.
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UNDERSTANDING GOALS
Many seal users are remarkably vague about what they are trying to accomplish. You can’t use seals effectively in a vacuum. You must undertake a fair amount of introspection. Many seal users--in and outside the utility industry--are not much clear on exactly what their tamper detection program is all about. It is not possible to optimize your chances for tamper detection without a thorough understanding of the specific goals of your security program, your likely adversaries, the personnel and resources you are willing to devote to the task, the consequences of a security failure, and what you will do when you find evidence of tampering. These issues need to be reviewed on a regular basis.
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SEAL SELECTION
Choosing an appropriate seal is complicated. In my experience, most seal users (commercial or government) choose seals based on the following criteria, in order of decreasing priority:
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Unit cost
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Familiarity/tradition
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Environmental durability
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Ease of use
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Gossip--a colleague says something nice about the seal, or something bad about a competing seal.
Attributes such as vulnerability to attack, and tamper-detection reliability often don’t even make the list! This is probably because they are much harder to evaluate.
After needs are fully analyzed, security managers should choose a seal that is appropriate for the application and desired level of security. In extreme (but all too common) cases, seal users become so obsessed with the unit cost of a seal, that they ignore everything else. Costs associated with additional hardware, seal training, paperwork, installation, inspection, and removal can be far more important than the seal purchase price. Not to mention the costs of undetected theft!
It is important to choose tamper-indicating products carefully. To be effective, all seals must have a tag-like "fingerprint," or unique identifier, such as a serial number and coding. Otherwise, an adversary can simply cut off the seal and replace it with an unused one. |
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SEAL PROTECTION
Many seal users are careful to safeguard their seals prior to use but careless about disposing of used seals and seal parts. This sloppiness can be exploited by an adversary intent on learning about an organization's seal program, getting sample seals and components to practice defeat techniques, and counterfeiting seals, seal parts, serial numbers, or imprinted/stamped logos.
Once a seal has completed its function, it should be protected or thoroughly destroyed. Punching a hole in the seal or cutting it in half is not sufficient. In practical, the security manager should consider storing used seals for possible future forensic analysis when new attacks or problems are discovered.
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INSPECTION
The single and most critical issue associated with seal security is the inspection process. Some seal users and potential users don't understand that seals can only detect tampering if they are inspected. (Locks, in contrast, provide security even when ignored.) Seal inspection is can sometimes be done automatically by electronics or a computer system, but for most seals, the inspection is required to be performed manually.
Even a simple, inexpensive seal can provide effective security if properly inspected. On the other hand, highly sophisticated, expensive seals may provide remarkably poor tamper protection if the inspection protocol is ineffective. |
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TRAINING
For optimal tamper detection, the VAT (Vulnerability Assessment Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory) believes, it is crucial to train seal inspectors in the most likely attack scenarios for each seal they use so that inspectors should specifically look for signs of those attacks. For example, many seals can be opened and resealed to look like they did before being compromised. Unless inspectors have seen actual examples of seals that have been reapplied after attack, they can easily miss the subtle signs of cosmetic alteration. Such signs include discoloration, scratches, and gloss differences.
Inspectors, as well as all other security personnel, should always be treated with consideration and respect. Having disgruntled security personnel is a classic way that security programs fail. To the extent practical, seal inspectors should be engaged intellectually and emotionally in the task of catching the bad guys. Contests and prizes might be offered for finding compromised seals in actual use or during training exercises.
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VULNERABILITY
All security programs and security seals should undergo periodic vulnerability assessments. Ideally, these will be conducted by independent outside evaluators who are experienced in finding problems and suggesting solutions. If the cost or security concerns prevent the use of outside evaluators, alternatives are available. Security managers can draft evaluators from within their own organization. Ideally, these should include clever, hands-on people with no direct involvement in the security program and thus no preconceived notions about security issues. It is remarkable how often non-experts can spot problems that have eluded security personnel caught up in the day-to-day details of the job. This kind of activity also pays benefits by improving security awareness throughout the organization.
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SEAL DESIGNS
One typical problem is lack of a serial number on the seal. It is important to place a serial number as it makes it more difficult for an adversary to replace the seal or its components with parts from another seal made by the same manufacturer. When serial numbers or customized logos are embossed or stamped onto a seal, the process should be done deeply. For many seals, the embossing or stamping is so shallow that it can easily be buffed off and replaced.
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