Electricity board to check power theft through artificial intelligence

Patna: In a bid to check electricity theft, Bihar State Power Holding Company (BSPHCL) is going to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and other modern applications. A decision in this regard was taken in a meeting convened by BSPHCL chairman-cum-managing director Sanjeev Hans on Tuesday.While mentioning the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses in the first quarter of 2023-24, Hans said steps are being taken by deploying modern tools to check power theft and fix accountability of field engineers. “Through AI, we can check electricity theft, consolidate our energy accounting and fix accountability. To strengthen the system, work of accounting of all feeders and transformers is in progress to help us identify the consumers who were indulging in electricity theft,” Hans said. “We have got encouraging results from Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur, where the pilot project of energy accounting is being done,” he said, adding the special task force (STF) would have to intensify the raids and work further with dedication and commitment.“From August 1, we are going to launch the ‘Raid and FIR Management System’ portal. This will display the raids being conducted by the STF and the amount of fine imposed on consumers indulging in electricity theft,” Hans said. The CMD said through the portal, the two power distribution companies — South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL) and North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL) — will go for 100% automation of accounting, bringing ease of operation and enable data analysis of consumption patterns of the consumers.“The patterns of energy consumption will help us fix accountability of field engineers. The AT&C loss is a cause for concern and this has to be checked and cut,” he said. Hans also felicitated the energy accounting team and field engineers who had performed well in their domain.
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