System and method for detecting and localizing non-technical losses in an electrical power distribution grid

• US 10,001,514 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2014
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dominion Enterprises (Landmark Media Enterprises LLC), TRC Companies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Dominion Enterprises (Landmark Media Enterprises LLC), Astrolink International Llc (Qurate Retail Group (f/k/a Liberty Interactive Corporation))
• Inventors: Bernheim, Henrik F., Hansell, Jerritt H., Martin, Marcia Reid
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tung X
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rodak, Lee
• Application Number:
  US14/304,035
• Publication Number:
  US 20140368189A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,467 Days
• Field of Search: 324 66, 324 7611, 324142, 324103 R, 324114, 324522, 702 57- 62, 702 64- 65
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/2513 Arrangements for monitoring electric power systems, e.g. power lines or loads; Logging
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/063 related to remote communication
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/066 Arrangements for avoiding or indicating fraudulent use

Abstract

A system and method for detecting theft of power in an electrical distribution grid. The system may include at least two communicating meters which form a transformer area network, a mechanism for measuring current and voltage at the meters, a mechanism for transmitting the measured current and voltage data to a data center with access to an electric grid database, and a mechanism that analyzes the transmitted data to inter unauthorized taking of electrical power.

Claims

1. A system for detecting a theft of power in an electrical distribution grid, the system comprising:

a first communicating meter configured to be coupled to a low voltage side of a service distribution transformer, the first communicating meter configured to communicate with a second communicating meter on the low voltage side of the service distribution transformer to form a Transformer Area Network;

the first communicating meter comprising;

a Measurement Agent configured to periodically measure and record a current, a voltage, and a time at the first communicating meter; and

a Monitoring agent configured to;

receive transmissions from the second communicating meter that include a measured current, a measured voltage, a timestamp, and a unique identifier (ID) that identifies the second communicating meter;

determine a first adjusted voltage drop based at least in part on a measured current flow at the first communicating meter;

determine a second adjusted voltage drop based at least in part on a measured current flow at the second communicating meter;

determine that the second adjusted voltage drop exceeds the first adjusted voltage drop by a predetermined threshold; and

communicate a message that identifies the second communicating meter and indicates a potential theft of power to a computing device that comprises a software application hosted in a data center with access to a grid map database.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said communicating meters are Remotes.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one communicating meter configured to transmit messages over a wide-area network is a Remote Hub.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the Transformer Area Network has a radial topology.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the Transformer Area network has a bus topology.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein a grid mapping agent is hosted on at least one communicating meter of the Transformer Area Network.

7. A method for detecting unauthorized, unmetered taps on the low-voltage side of an electrical distribution service transformer, the method comprising:

recording, by a first communicating meter comprising a processor device and coupled to an electrical distribution grid on a low-voltage side of the electrical distribution service transformer, a current, a voltage, and a timestamp at the first communicating meter;

receiving, by the first communicating meter via a Transformer Area Network, a transmission from a second communicating meter coupled to the electrical distribution grid on the low-voltage side of the electrical distribution service transformer, that includes a current, a voltage, and a timestamp at the second communicating meter;

determining, by the first communicating meter, a first adjusted voltage drop based at least in part on a measured current flow at the first communicating meter;

determining, by the first communicating meter, a second adjusted voltage drop based at least in part on a measured current flow at the second communicating meter;

determining, by the first communicating meter, that the second adjusted voltage drop exceeds the first adjusted voltage drop by a predetermined threshold; and

transmitting, by the first communicating meter, a wide-area message that identifies the second communicating meter and indicates a potential theft to a computing device in a data center.