Around 479 consumers used electricity unlawfully in the past two years, said representatives of the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System (CEDIS).
“A total of 479 criminal charges have been brought on the grounds of electricity stealing in 2017 and 2018”, they said.
Electricity distribution entails technical losses caused by physical processes that occur in the transmission of electricity from the producer to the end user.
Apart from technical, there are also commercial losses that occur as a consequence of electricity thefts or arbitrary connection to the grid.
“Technical and commercial losses in 2017 amounted to 399,5 GWh, which is 14,96& of the electricity, in 2018, losses amounted to 371,6 GWh (13,83% of electricity)”, said CEDIS representatives.
According to Energy Regulatory Agency, technical loss rate stands at 8.43%.
€35 million of savings with “smart electricity meters”
CEDIS has been dealing with losses a lot lately and managed to reduce them from 20,84% to 13,83%.
“The reduction is result of the AMM project (installation of new, electric meters). For years, CEDIS has been carrying out projects which resulted in continuous reduction of losses”, said CEDIS representatives.
Although most citizens pay their electricity bills on regular basis, there are also those who try to deceive the system.
In accordance with the Law on Energy, in case a theft has been identified, CEDIS is obliged to suspend the delivery of electricity immediately. Therefore, if competent teams determined that there have been irregularities indicating electricity theft, the consumer will be disconnected from the grid.
Thanks to “smart electricity meters”, CEDIS keeps the record of electricity spending. Therefore, any instance of staling is in contravention of Montenegrin laws and is a sign of jeopardizing personal safety and security of one’s property.
“Methodology for calculation and charging of the unlawfully taken and used electricity stipulates that a consumer will be connected to grid again if: he/she pays the amount of unlawful consumption, when he/she pays the damage (in case unauthorized consumption inflicted damage to electric meter)”, said CEDIS representatives.
Instances of electricity thefts are cruel reality Montenegrin distribution operator is faced with.
“Field work is performed by experienced people, who are familiar with cases of unauthorized use of electricity and problematic areas”.
In addition, CEDIS constantly monitors AMM system and analyses the alarm states on every electricity meter in the system.
“Simultaneously, we carry out logistic controls of registered consumption. New technologies allow us to monitor energy flows, which means that we have guidelines for identifying part of the grid where there’s a problem”, said CEDIS representatives.
CEDIS teams have contemporary devices for checking the accuracy of the performance of electricity meters.
“Our teams also take care of the accuracy of anti-tamper functions, identify mechanical damages caused by unauthorized opening of the electric meter and they perform other activities relevant to high-quality control”, said CEDIS representatives.
New electric meters had a positive impact on the reduction of unauthorized consumption of electricity.
