9th International Conference on Communications and Networking in China

Research Article

State Estimation for Energy Theft Detection in Microgrids

  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/icst.chinacom.2014.256345,
        author={Sergio Salinas and Changqing Luo and Weixian Liao and Pan Li},
        title={State Estimation for Energy Theft Detection in Microgrids},
        proceedings={9th International Conference on Communications and Networking in China},
        publisher={IEEE},
        proceedings_a={CHINACOM},
        year={2015},
        month={1},
        keywords={microgrid energy theft state estimation},
        doi={10.4108/icst.chinacom.2014.256345}
    }
    
  • Sergio Salinas
    Changqing Luo
    Weixian Liao
    Pan Li
    Year: 2015
    State Estimation for Energy Theft Detection in Microgrids
    CHINACOM
    IEEE
    DOI: 10.4108/icst.chinacom.2014.256345
Sergio Salinas1, Changqing Luo1, Weixian Liao1, Pan Li1,*
  • 1: Mississippi State University
*Contact email: li@ece.msstate.edu

Abstract

In traditional power networks, energy theft is a significant problem that causes severe financial losses to utility companies and legitimate users, jeopardizes system stability, and enables other illegal activities. Recently, governments and utility companies propose the Smart Grid as the next generation electric network to improve the current grid's efficiency, reliability, and security. In the Smart Grid, smart meters are deployed at users' premises to facilitate data collection, system control, etc. However, smart meters are vulnerable to cyber attacks, thus enabling easier energy pilfering. In this paper, we model the amount of energy stolen by a smart meter as a measurement bias, and propose an energy theft detection algorithm based on state estimation. In particular, our algorithm employs weighted least squares (WLS) state estimation, and can identify all the energy thieves in the system. We conduct extensive simulations in IEEE 13-bus and 123-bus test systems to validate our algorithm.