Abstract

Methods of detecting atypical patterns of usage of electricity, determined by monitoring consumption at the primary line, permit detection of grow-ops and unusual line losses due to defective service lines. A meter having a high resolution is connected to the primary line and the data collected is compared to known consumption patterns thus identifying a potential theft or a loss. Once an atypical pattern has been found, the heat signatures of transformers fed by the primary line are measured. An unusual heat signature alerts the utility to load test the secondary lines of each residence fed from the transformer and thus locate suspect residences which may be grow-ops or to locate a line loss due to defective service lines.

IPC Classes  ?

• G01R 11/24 - Arrangements for avoiding or indicating fraudulent use
• G01R 11/63 - Over-consumption meters, e.g. measuring consumption while a predetermined level of power is exceeded
• G01R 21/02 - Arrangements for measuring electric power or power factor by thermal methods