Combating Unauthorized Load Signal Analysis with Targeted Event Masking

Privacy concerns surround the advent of frequently reported meter readings, as analysis of the load demand can reveal electrical customer behavior. Load masking is a means by which consumer might achieve obfuscating the load being metered, by using large-scale electrical storage to either meet some demand locally, or add to the load by charging. This paper considers algorithms for masking load by masking individual load changes, and evaluates their effectiveness in terms of an observer's ability to pin-point the actual change in load, when a new change is load is presented.