Electricity Theft Is Rampant, but Delhi Found a Fix

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/three-lightbulbs-glowing-with-the-middle-one-appearing-to-wear-a-black-mask-with-a-menacing-face.jpg?id=67857147&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C208%2C0%2C208"/><br/><br/><p><span><span>It’s</span> disheartening how much power gets generated and then promptly lost as it travels through grid networks. </span><span>Th</span><span>is</span> <span>leaking </span><span>of electricity </span><span>happens </span><span>when</span> it <span>vanishes as heat</span> as w<span>ell as </span><span>whe</span><span>n</span> <span>it</span> <span>is</span> pilfered by <span>thieves and nonpaying customers. </span> </p><p><span><span>More than</span> half of </span><span>the</span> countries <span>that</span> <span>track these metrics </span><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2024&start=1960&view=map&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>lost at least 10 percent of the</span><span>ir</span> electricity</span></a><span> in 2023, according to the World Bank. Losses topped 20 percent for 24 of those nations. Two countries lost more than half of what they </span><span>generated</span><span>. </span> </p><p><span><span>With numbers this high, c</span><span>utting down on</span> losses</span> makes sense<span>. </span><span>Electricity demand is rising beyond what many grid </span><span>operators </span><span>can supply</span><span>;</span> <span>reducing waste would help meet some of that demand</span> without <span>having to </span><span>build new power plants</span><span>. Plus, </span><span>when </span><span>the power comes from fossil fuels</span><span>,</span> <span>any</span> loss <span>means emitting </span><span>even more </span><span>greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And </span><span>electric losses </span><span>hit </span><span>the bottom lines of </span><span>power providers, </span><span>which</span> <span>ultimately pass</span> th<span>ose</span> costs on to everyone else. </p><p><span><span>The trouble is, reducing </span><span>electricity </span><span>losses is </span><span>a </span><span>hard and </span><span>expensive</span> process that takes a long time</span><span>. </span><span>Typically, the less </span><span>maintained</span> the grid infrastructure, the more electricity <span>that’s</span> lost. And the more <span>fragile </span><span>the region’s law enforcement and government, the more </span><span>prevalent </span><span>the power theft. Natural disasters and war make things worse.</span> </p><h2>Delhi’s Power Grid Comeback</h2><p><span><span>Fixing a </span><span>power </span><span>grid </span><span>requires a systemic approach across many sectors</span><span>. </span><span>There’s</span> no one technology that will solve the problem. </span><span>A</span><span>t the outset, </span><span>the obstacles to success may </span><span>feel </span><span>insurmountable</span><span>. Equipment across entire </span><span>grid </span><span>networks must be updated. Multiple arms of government </span><span>must</span> <span>agree to reforms and </span><span>coordinate to ensure power providers are set up to succeed. Regulations must be written</span> or revised<span>,</span> <span>i</span><span>nvestments made</span><span>,</span> <span>c</span><span>ultures changed.</span></p><p><span><span>T</span><span>he city of Delhi </span><span>did all those things. Over </span><span>the </span><span>p</span><span>ast </span><span>2</span><span>5 </span><span>year</span><span>s</span><span>, it </span><span>cut</span> its electricity losses from </span><span>about </span><span>50 to 5 percent</span><span>.</span> How the city pulled off that impressive feat is the focus of <span>“<a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/delhi-electricity-loss" target="_blank">The Epic Comeback of Delhi’s Power Grid</a>”</span><span> by</span> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/minishajithomas/" target="_blank"><span><span>Mini</span> Shaji</span> Thomas</a><span><span>, an electrical engineer at</span> the university</span> Jamia Millia Islamia who has lived in Delhi since the 1990s<span>. She gives us a </span><span>view</span> from the inside<span>—</span><span>as a resident and a </span><a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/empowering-women-power-industry" target="_self"><span><span>power systems expert</span></span></a><span>. </span> </p><p><span><span>Delhi</span> i</span><span>s a shining example, but </span><span>some </span><span>other regions have significantly lowered electricity losses over the last quarter century </span><span>too</span><span>. The country of </span><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2023&locations=GE&start=1990&view=chart&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>Georgia</span></span></a> <span>went from losses</span> of over 16 percent in 2002 to <span>about </span><span>8</span> percent in 2023. In <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2023&locations=SG&start=1990&view=chart&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>Singapore</span></span></a><span><span>, losses dropped from 6.6 percent to </span><span>a nearly</span> nonexistent 0.2 percent over the same </span><span>time period</span><span>.</span> </p><h2>Global Electricity Theft Crisis</h2><p><span><span>But there are many </span><span>parts of the world </span><span>where </span><span>electricity </span><span>losses </span><span>remain</span> a problem or have gotten worse. In </span><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2023&locations=JM&start=1990&view=chart&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>Jamaica</span></span></a><span><span>, where power theft is rampant, losses have hovered between 21 and 28 percent </span><span>for</span> years. </span><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2023&locations=AR&start=1990&view=chart&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>Argentina’s losses</span></span></a> <span>nearly doubled between 2015 and 2023, going from an all-time low of about 12 percent to an all-time high of nearly 24 percent.</span> The main problem: <span>T</span><span>ransmission and distribution companies lacked the capital to </span><span>maintain</span> and upgrade their networks, which left equipment <span>operating</span> under stress. <span>A</span> delay in the installation of smart meters <span>has </span><span>allow</span><span>ed thieves to </span><span>more easily </span><span>siphon </span><span>power </span><span>and </span><span>tamper</span> with <span>meter</span><span>s</span><span>. </span> </p><p><span><span>Thomas says she hopes her account of Delhi</span><span>’s grid comeback </span><span>will </span><span>serve as a blueprint for </span><span>other</span><span>s. </span><span>It’s</span> possible to replicate the sweeping changes Delhi made, she says. But it “requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders, customers, the utility, the government</span><span>,</span> and their employees.” </p>