Non-technical losses are a major concern for all utilities, and it never ceases to amaze me what some people will do to try to cheat a utility out of payment for services delivered. While at the Itron Revenue Assurance pod here at DistribuTECH 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana, I have had a number of interesting conversations with customers and attendees regarding this topic.

One that stood out to me was a ‘fixer’ that was duping people into thinking he could install a device on their meter that would make the whole house 50 percent more efficient. In some cases, people were paying as much $500 for this behind-the-meter ‘device’. When the utility caught up with this person, they were able to connect more than 90 cases of tampering to him. Another interesting story was that of a series of connected businesses that made a prolonged and concerted effort in reducing registered consumption over a period of 24 months with the intent of defeating any high-low alarms. They didn’t know about the power of peer-comparison analytics apparently – and now they are on the hook for close to $500,000 in back fees.

That’s why we are passionate about what we do. With over 30 utilities and more than 35 million endpoints utilizing Itron’s Revenue Assurance, it incorporates the best features of our Theft Detection application with the Revenue Assurance application to deliver over 100+ algorithms for gas and electric services, an easily tailored user interface, a complete set of workflow tools for managing all investigation and service order work, as well as seamless integration to back office systems. Taking mitigating actions quickly can enhance and protect revenues, alleviate safety concerns and demonstrate a positive customer focus.

I am interested to see what else I learn about this important topic over the next few days at DistribuTECH 2019!

Stop by booth 10115 to hear more about our Revenue Assurance offering and enter to win a pair of Apple® Airpods® with the hashtag #ImItronExperienced.

Also, be sure to tag and follow #DTECH2019 while you’re in New Orleans to keep up with all the latest DistribuTECH 2019 happenings.