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Canpowertheftonalargescalebestopped
Readingthisarticle,Istartedwonderingifthereisanywaytostoppeoplestealingelectricityfromapowergrid.Letmeclarify,the
onlytechniquesIhaveseen(andcanthinkof)iseitherto
1. relyonanhonorsystemwhereyoutrustpeoplenottostealandpayforallthepowertheyconsume
2. orhavevisualinspectionswhereapowercompanyjustsendsitspeopleouttheylookforillegalhookupsandtheneitherjust
disconnectingthemand/orlegalactionagainstthethieves.
Forthesecondcase,asthearticlesays,powercompanyemployeescutthehookupsandthenthehookupsarebackupagaininfive
minutesandlegalactionofanykindisuselessandhopelessthankstomassivecorruptionatalllevels.
Myquestionhereis,isthereanymethodortechniquebasedonprinciplesofelectromagnetism/electricalengineering/griddesigning
thatcanprevent/minimizesuchtheftorevendetectsuchtheftlikewhereitishappeningorwhoisdoingit?Isthereanywaytolocalize
itandthencutonlythethievesinsteadofanentireneighborhoodincludinginnocentswhoarenotstealingatall?Canapowergridbe
designed(fromscratchifneeded)tohelpwiththis?Canatleastthetheftbemadesodifficultorexpensivethatitwon'tbeworthwhile
forpeopletostealit?
Iunderstandthatsecurityofanykindisadifficultproblemandnomatterwhatthesystem,thereisalwaysawaytobreakit.Butin
thispolice/legalactionisabsolutelyuselesssohowcanpowerdistributionbemadesecureenoughthatitisbeyondthe
scope/ability/affordabilityofanaveragecitizentojustbrazenlyandeasilystealallthepowertheywant.Thankyou.
powerdistribution

powerconsumption

editedJul1'13at3:47

askedJul1'13at3:35
FixedPoint
121
4

1 Inmyopinion,atechnologicalsolutionisuselessinacountrywherekidnapping,murder,andcorruptionarethe
norm.Anysecuritysystemcanbebreachedbycorruptorextortedoperators.Asmanysecurityexpertsfrequently
say,theweakestlinkisthehuman.Icannotenvisionasecuritysystemthatwillworkforthisscenario,butevenif
therewasoneitwouldfailbecausethepeoplethemselveswillfail.BTW:Ididn'tdownvote.user3624Jul1'13at
3:52

1 @FixedPointIntheUnitedStates,powertheftdoeshappenparticularlywithMarijuanagrowhouses,wherea
"legalpowerbill"wouldbemanythousandsofdollarsamonthandwouldattractlotsofattention.AsIsaidbefore,I
cannotenvisionanysecuritysystemthatwouldworkinanypracticalsense.Ialsodonotknowofanysystemother
than"monitorthepowerandfindleaks".user3624Jul1'13at4:02

1 Whatabouttheimpedanceoftheline?Woulditbepossibletodeterminewhereadevicewasconnectedwithout
knowledgeofthecharacteristicsofthedevice?Howaboutifvoltage/currentsensorswerefinelydistributed
throughouttheline?trav1sJul1'13at4:05

2 Supposethatalllegitimatemetersaresmartandtheycanconveyminutebyminuteusagebacktothebase(inreal
timeornot).Iftheamountofpower(I'musingthistermloosely)goingintothebranchislargerthanthetotalofthe
meters,thanthereisaleak.NickAlexeev Jul1'13at4:41

2 Reducethesizeofthepowerdistributioncompanytothatofacommunitysmallenoughthatthethiefisknowntothe
community.Thiscouldbedonebymeteringthetotalpowerdeliveredtoeachsmallcommunity,aswellaseach
customerinit.Ifthetotalpowerdeliveredishigherthanthetotalofeachcustomer's,thereisathiefinthe
community.Letthem(thecommunity)know,raisetheirbill,andletthemferretouttheculprit.BobbiBennettJul
1'13at12:59

2Answers
An"honoursystem"orvisualinspectionsarenottheonlytwooptions.
Detectingtappingoffpointsispossibleusingatimedomainreflectometer(TDR).Thisisa
measurementinstrumentthatusestransmissionlinephysicstodeterminelocationsandtypes
of"impedancediscontinuities"(suchasillegaltaps)onatransmissionline.

Operatingprinciple
TDRsworkbysendinga"ping"ofenergyintoatransmissionlineandwatchingthe"echoes"
thatcomeback.Thetransmissionlinecanbeanopticaltransmissionline(i.e.anopticalfibre)
or,inourcase,anelectricaltransmissionline(aoverheadpowerlineorundergroundpower
cable.)
Thisworksbecausesignalswillpartiallyorfullyreflectoffanydiscontinuityinatransmission
line.A"discontinuity"inthiscasecouldbetheendoftheline(opencircuit,shortcircuit,or
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terminatedinaload),anytappingoffpoint,oranychangeinimpedance.
TheTDRworksbyanalysingthelengthoftimebetweensendingoutthesignalandreceivingit
back,soitcantellyouthephysicaldistancebetweentheinstrumentandthesourceofthe
echo.Thiscanbedonetoaprecisionofcentimeters.

NormalusesofTDRs
ThemainuseofTDRsistodetectfaultsoncablesoropticalfibres.
Saythatelectricwavespropagateat0.66c(~200,000km/sec)youhavea100kilometrelong
wire,opencircuitatthefarend.Ifyousendapulsedownoneendofthewire,youwould
expecttheechoestobounceofftheendofthewireandreturnin1millisecond(200kmround
tripdistance.)
Ifyousendapulsedownthis100kmwireandthereflectioncomesbackin0.4milliseconds,
thistellsyouthatthereisadiscontinuity40%ofthewaydownthewire(i.e.aroundthe40km
mark.)Furtheranalysisofthemagnitudeandshapeoftheechocantellyouwhatkindof
discontinuityispresentatthatlocation,i.e.acompletebreak,akink,corrosion,tappingoff
point,splice,etc.
Thisiswidelyusedintheelectricalindustrytolocatefaultsonlongcables.It'salsousedforthe
samepurposeintelecommunications,todiagnosefaultsand(oddlyenough)tolocate
surveillancewiretaps.

Detectingillegalpowerlinetapoffs
Apowertransmissionlineobeysthesamephysicalprinciplesasatelecommunicationscableor
anopticalfibre,sointheory,TDRcanbeusedtolocateillegaltapoffsfromapowerline.
Thisideaisn'tnewornovelthereisatleastonemobsellingcommercialproductsthatdetect
illegalpowerlinetapsusingthismethod.InotetheMeggerCFL510Ginstrumentisageneral
purposeinstrumentintendedforfaultfindingontelecommunicationsequipmentsoit
probablyrequiresdisconnectionofthemainspowerbeforeuse.
Toansweryouroriginalquestion,IwouldguessthatusingTDRtodetectpowertheftona
largescaleistechnicallypossiblebuttooexpensive.
Thedistributionauthoritywouldhavetosendmenaroundtoeveryneighbourhoodto
performperiodicTDRtesting.Youhavetopaytheirwagesandequipment.
Dependingontheparticularinstrument,usingitmightinvolvedisconnectingthe
consumer'spower.Thiswouldbebothunpopularandexpensive(thedistribution
companygetspaid$$$basedonhowmanykilowattsyouconsume,anddisconnected
customersdon'tconsumeanykilowatts!)
Thevastmajorityofpeopleprobablyaren'tstealingpower,soyouhavetobalancethecost
offindingthepowerthievesvs.thecostoftheelectricitytheyarestealing.
answeredSep10'13at12:46
LiaungYip
4,603
7
30

Onemoreorlesspracticalwaywouldbetosupplyhighvoltage(say6kilovolts)asclosetothe
consumeraspossibleandconvertittomainsvoltagethere.
ForexampleheregoesasmallpolemountertransformerthatistypicalinNorthAmericaand
isratedat200Amps(presumablyat110voltsandthatgets22kilowattswhichisfinefor210
households).Itisinstalledrightinfrontofahouseitserves,thenwiresruntothehouseortwo
orthreenearbyhouses.Smallertransformersarepossible.Thearticleyoulinkedtoalsoshowed
apolemountedtransformerbutthatoneismuchlargerandsoservesmoreconsumers.
Thiswouldassumethatlaymenwouldnotmesswithhighvoltageandalsotheconnectionsto
suchtransformersareeasilyvisible.Nowifthegridoperatorfindsabusehecandisconnect
onlyoneorseveralconsumers,notaneighborhood.
Onebonusisthatthisreduceslossessinceonlythelasthundredmetersisatmainsvoltage
theefficiencyisincreased.Thedownsideisthatlowpowertransformersaremoreexpensive
perwattofpowerandyouhavemorehighvoltagewiresaroundthehousesandthismight
reducesafetyincaseofaccidents.
answeredJul1'13at9:52
sharptooth
4,839
2

32

94

Thatwouldhelpwithnewhousingestatesbutitcouldbeaproblemtoupgradexsquillionsofmilesoflocaloverhead
cablecurrentlysittingon240Vinsulators.You'dstillhavetomonitorn=1billion/peopleperhousehold/households
perpoletransformersprettyoftentoremovehooksonthelow(er)voltagesideandpossiblystillhavetobribethe
police/politicians/gangs/militiatoenforcethelawand/ortoallowdisconnections.RedGrittyBrickJul1'13at
10:30

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@RedGrittyBrick:Sure,butwhenyouhave220voltsgridforthewholeneighborhoodtheftismucheasier.
sharptoothJul1'13at10:32

Thiswouldassumethatlaymenwouldnotmesswithhighvoltage Inmycountryatleast,this
assumptionhasbeenprovenincorrect.Weregularlyhavedeathsofpeopletryingtostealcopperfromautomated
highvoltagetransformeryardsandrailwaypowerinstallations.AndrejaKoJul1'13at10:40

@AndrejaKo:That'sabitdifferenttheyonlyneedtocutthewireandcarryitwiththem,notprovideagood
electricalconnection.sharptoothJul1'13at10:46

Thetinfoilhatcrowdwouldhaveafielddaywiththis.KazJul1'13at13:54

protectedbyDavidKessnerSep10'13at15:35
Thankyouforyourinterestinthisquestion.Becauseithasattractedlowqualityanswers,postingan
answernowrequires10reputationonthissite.
Wouldyouliketoansweroneoftheseunansweredquestionsinstead?

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