Preliminary figures for electricity theft losses this year indicated that were now below the EU average, Enemalta said today.
It referred to a story in The Sunday Times of Malta ‘Magistrate slams Enemalta for 'abuse' of its monopoly’ and said that although it would not comment about the case, since it was subject to pending criminal action, it was committed to continue working to eliminate electricity theft and other related irregularities.
It said htat electricity theft losses decreased by 33 per cent last year, by far the greatest annual reduction ever registered by the company.
During the first half of this year, it continued to cut these losses with preliminary figures indicating they were now below the EU average.
“Between January 2014 and June 2015, over 850 cases of electricity theft, some dating back 10 years, have been concluded, with customers paying for the electricity stolen and applicable fines or signing payment programmes that lead to immediate disconnection of supply in case of default.
“These results were achieved following the introduction of several measures aimed at reducing this abuse. The company started focusing on specific types of electricity theft, one by one, to identify the appropriate tools to curb each one of them and then take necessary action accordingly.
"The first of these cases involved the tampering of smart meters – this issue has now been tackled through several measures. Action is now being taken on other irregularities as well,” the company said.
It said it assigned a team of technicians especially trained and equipped to identify cases of theft and obtain the necessary data and evidence to pursue further action. It said it was conducting an average of 66 electricity theft inspections a month, to ensure full compliance.
Enemalta also acquired new analytics software to monitor consumption patterns and identify irregularities as early as possible.
Several anti-theft technologies were also introduced at different stages of the distribution network.
Once these devices indicated potential irregularities, Enemalta immediately dispatched its technicians and inspectors to investigate further and take the necessary action.
Some of these technologies were designed to automatically suspend the supply to customers as soon as they tried to steal electricity.