City Power’s electricity theft crackdown faces data problem
The utility wants to track suspicious prepaid purchases, but experts warn tech cannot separate theft from legitimate changes without audits.
City Power aims to reduce its R3.96 billion in non-technical electricity losses through a new tender for near-real-time monitoring of prepaid purchases. However, experts warn that analytics will likely flag suspects rather than recover money. According to the company's latest annual report, non-technical losses, which include theft, illegal connections, and billing errors, accounted for 20.85% of electricity purchased in 2024/25.
City Power has already implemented automated meter management, audits, and reconciliations to address these issues. However, City Power's proposed monitoring capabilities depend on smart meters with reliable communications and clean links between various systems. The effectiveness of automated detection relies on the quality, reliability, and frequency of data from the meters.
AI models can identify unusual patterns, but they struggle to explain why these patterns occurred. City Power should require bidders to provide transparent, explainable, and auditable AI outputs, and ensure that human decision-making remains in place. The implementation of such technology also raises concerns about privacy, as detailed purchasing and consumption patterns could reveal sensitive household information.
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