Intensified inspection campaigns to detect electricity theft cases

CAIRO – 15 June 2018: The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy is initiating intensified inspection campaigns with the cooperating of the General Directorate for Electricity Police to detect cases of electricity theft.

The ministry decided to intensify its campaigns against electricity theft and meter tempering starting Friday, which marks the first day of Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim religious holiday that signifies the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, as often cases of electricity theft increase during Eid days.

During Eid, some lawbreakers tend to steal electricity to light up store fronts and wedding parties in streets, therefore, serious directives were given by Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker to detect and prosecute electricity thieves.

Detection of electricity theft is being achieved through a number of approaches that have been proposed to the field; the predominant direction however is by utilizing artificial intelligence and some particular machine learning methods.

According to a reliable source at the Ministry of Electricity, the estimated loss in the electricity grid amounts to around 15 percent of the total generated electricity, including seven percent that is caused by electricity theft, which costs the country around LE 5 billion of losses.

The source also added that the new electricity law can get electricity thieves behind bars in case they refused to pay the fines.

It is pertinent to mention that on June 21, Shaker announced in a press conference new hikes in electricity prices.

According to Shaker, the overall increase does not exceed 26 percent, while the average hikes in bills for houses amount around 24 percent.

The minister also affirmed that the new hikes save the country from potential losses that might reach LE 109 billion.

He added that users of the first bracket of the housing use segment only bear 18 percent of the total cost of the bill; as they pay LE 12 while the actual bill costs LE 65.

The new prices, according to the minister, come as part of the government’s economic reform program.