Smart Grid Integrity Monitoring System powered by Edge Computing

The production and utilization of electricity are key indicators of an economy's size and growth, making electricity theft a factor in slowing economic progress. While a few nations benefit from exporting electricity, most power is generated for domestic use. However, utility providers have been experiencing significant losses, which can be classified into – technical and non-technical losses. Technical losses, inherent to the power grid, have been largely mitigated, but losses still occur due to power dissipation in conductors and other equipment during transmission. Non-technical losses, on the other hand, arise from metering inaccuracies, electricity theft, and unmetered energy usage. Detecting electricity theft is a significant challenge for utility providers. With the expected surge in devices paired and connected to the internet, researchers suggest that the utility sector should leverage this technology to reduce losses. The proposed research aims to develop an architecture capable of detecting illegal activities between the utility server and customer energy meters. The system would allow real-time monitoring over the internet by utility providers.