Spotting the signs of energy theft

Suppliers must raise awareness of the financial and safety risks of tampering with energy meters.

Energy theft is a growing problem. While there’s certainly a lot of great work being done within the sector, there is still much to do.

To raise awareness of this crime, we recently commissioned research into energy theft, which revealed a host of worrying findings. Although consumers demonstrate some awareness of energy theft, more than a third (39 per cent) do not realise it poses a life-threatening safety risk, and this could be why one in four would be happy to turn a blind eye. Also, only one in four people (25 per cent) feel confident in their ability to spot the signs of a meter that has been tampered with.

It’s clear a more collaborative approach is needed, starting with greater involvement from consumers. While 97 per cent of consumers believe energy theft is wrong, only 19 per cent do so because of safety concerns. So doing more to explain the dangers associated with energy theft could decrease the number of potential non-reporters. It could also help diminish the success of those who offer to tamper with meters to reduce bills.

More must be done to educate the public on how they can go about spotting a tamper themselves.

Reporting rates could be increased by alerting people to be on the lookout at key moments. Given that consumers/landlords are most likely to spot energy theft during a move into or out of a property we need to work closely with landlords, tenants and homeowners to raise awareness of inherited meter tampers.

Swift action to investigate all leads is crucial. This is why, Grosvenor recently pushed for an agreement with the UK courts for a two-day warrant process (12 days less than the standard process).

Technical resources are necessary to change and make safe a tampered meter, but it’s worth considering the non-technical resources needed to tackle ancillary issues such as customer engagement, back billing, collecting debt and managing potential conflict. We estimate that up to three-quarters of visits could be handled by customer engagement or field collections specialists.

We must work with the public to increase awareness and support, doing more to educate people about the financial and safety risks of meter tampering, raising the profile through media relations, and publicising our victories in the fight against energy thieves.

We’ve seen the deadly consequences of energy theft on multiple occasions, and yet it still flies under the radar. If greater action is not taken, I fear we may be due a devastating wake-up call.