Smart meters allow conducting all possible operations remotely, eliminating the need for DSOs for on-site inspections of the smart meter during its lifetime. This means that DSOs should also be capable of remotely detecting metering frauds. Thanks to tamper detection functions, smart meters can record events during which the meter cover is open. i-DE has developed an algorithm to read all the recorded events and filter the possible cases of fraud before requesting a field inspection.
In the year 2024, this system allowed i-DE to recover 802 MWh of non-invoiced energy. Nevertheless, the implementation of this solution acts in itself as a deterrent for fraudulent customers and inspection instances have drastically decreased since its first adoption.
