By Rabindra RooplallThe Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) has intensified its campaign against electricity theft,China NFL Jerseys Cheap, countrywide as fines and imprisonment have been cited as an issue for the power company since 1,248 cases are pending before the courts, according to statistics.The penalty for stealing electricity is a fine of $50,Cheap NFL Jerseys,000 and a mandatory sentence of one year imprisonment.Statistics fingered the East Coast of Demerara as having the highest number of cases at Sparendaam Court with 360 pending cases. This was followed by Georgetown with 345 cases and 236 for Berbice.Electricity theft in GuyanaStatistics reveal that from 2007 to 2012 there were 2,490 arrests with 541 convictions. For the same period 1005 raids were carried out with 49,298 illegal connections removed.? During this time 7981 complaints were also recorded.According to Field Services Manager, Looknauth Singh, the power company continues to seek persons and business entities that are deceitful with illegal connections being responsible for 22 percent of the company’s losses. This, he said, was also due to non-technical losses in nature and is largely as a result of electricity theft, faulty meters and deficiencies in the billing system.Approximately 30 per cent of the population is illegally connected and this has caused GPL commercial losses estimated at $2 billion annually.The managers also noted that many persons are being duped by some GPL meter readers, ex-employee and other employees who are not authorized to “test a meter and to identify an illegality.” Only the loss reduction operation section is so authorized.“When meter readers visit a premises they have a hand held instrument that can read your meter from your gate.”Chief Executive Officer, Bharat Dindyal, recently noted that in an attempt to further reduce the incidence of electricity theft, the power company has launched a pilot programme financed by the Inter-American Development Bank. This proposed programme, he said,Wholesale China Jerseys Free Shpping, is expected to target areas with high electricity theft and will be characterised by the introduction of new designs to curb such practices.“This will not only look at the network design using a more secure network sometimes called a fraud-proof network, but we are looking at introducing the latest in metering technology, something called an Automatic Metering Infrastructure, which is more advanced than the prepaid that we are using,” Dindyal explained.“The experience,Cheap Stitched Jerseys, internationally, no matter which country you are in, is that pleading with people doesn’t work. They think you can’t do anything different when you plead and jailing them makes them your enemy. So you have to introduce technology in a coordinated manner that allows you to get the intelligence to act on,” he added.Once the Automatic Metering Infrastructure is installed it will be connected to the GPL’s Billing Department via wireless control.? This technology, according to Dindyal,Cheap Jerseys From China, would allow GPL officials to literally speak to the meter whenever the need arises.“So what happens is that there is a platform there with a server that is running and that is tracking the meter all the time,” he expounded.He noted too that the transformer that is serving the area will be metered as well as the customers connected to that transformer will be metered and its software will be tasked with looking at the amount of power that is going in while simultaneously recording how much is actually going to each customer. Moreover, the system would be able to develop intelligence on each customer, thus it would be able to flag a particular customer when something is happening,Wholesale China Jerseys, hence an alert will be sent to GPL to check on this customer.“In future we are looking to introduce this in a big way. We are hoping we can go to this technology totally, so that when we come to your house we know exactly why we are coming there,” Dindyal asserted.>>>>>>>>Picture saved in Sunday’s Edition as GPLCaption: Electricity theft in Guyana