Meter tampering and bypassing plus uncollected revenue cost energy companies tens of billions of dollars annually.

These “non-technical losses” in the energy sector have proven to be crippling to energy providers, said Ahmed Ashour, CEO and co-founder, Pylon UMP, Egypt.

He said that globally between $80 billion and $100bn had been lost to these practices. He listed the “trifecta of revenue loss” as: uncollected revenue, fraudulent behaviour and ageing infrastructure.

Speaking at Enlit Africa 2023 on Wednesday Ashour said: “In order to tackle this trifecta, a solution should ideally encompass the following features: accessibility, comprehensive data analysis, theft and suspect detection, workforce management, upgrade planning and customer relation management.”

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Part of the solution is to collect the data which enables companies to flag where the losses are the highest. “This tells us where to upgrade with smart meters – based on the findings of the data analysis.

“It helps us overcome the financial hurdles, losses and addressing the different challenges.”

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Ashour said utilities can upgrade their systems in a cost effective manner and in a way that promotes sustainability.

Citing an example from Cairo, Ashour said a company they had worked with had  “high non-technical losses.” The company has 6.5 million customers (over 24 regions).

“They were not able to increase revenues. We piloted for 180,000 smart meters and were able to detect the losses of 40% of the lost revenue,” said Ashour.

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He said the challenges utilities face, especially across emerging markets, is grappling with significant financial and operational hurdles in managing non-technical losses. Ashour pointed out that data-driven solutions and revenue share models offer a powerful strategy to address these challenges.

This would “enable utilities to combat revenue loss, upgrade their infrastructure and finance their transition to a smart grid.”

“As we move forward, let’s envision a future where utilities, backed by these strategies achieve sustainable growth and successfully transition to a smart grid.”