Can Electric Supply Companies know how much electricity you use without a meter?

hajjid · 07-06-2014 02:11PM #1

Obviously you have a meter and every 2 months the ESB man reads the meter and submits the readings. What I am curious about (would really appreciate if someone who worked for ESB could answer, with real knowledge, no guesses, would answer; however, I'll be grateful for educated guesses also) is whether the ESB has some nodes and screens to observe the consumption of electricity.

As in they could monitor a block, or a street. So in the long run all the meters from the monitored area have to correspond the their meter on the other side.

Thanks,

bassey · 07-06-2014 03:05PM

Lines are metered at the various substations they pass through I.E the outgoing supply from a 38KV substation to a 10/20KV substation will be metered and so on

Bruthal · 07-06-2014 03:06PM

Without the meter in the house, there is no way to see a house usage. They can use historical usage to estimate a persons bill, correcting it when actual readings are taken.

There are meters further up the supply line, at 38kv stations for example, which give power usage of thousands of houses and other users, but it is not used to verify the sum of all the meters, but more to monitor the demand requirements of the area.

hajjid · 07-06-2014 03:19PM

Thanks, Bruthal! Very educational.

hajjid · 07-06-2014 03:21PM

bassey wrote: »

Lines are metered at the various substations they pass through I.E the outgoing supply from a 38KV substation to a 10/20KV substation will be metered and so on

Thanks for the answer, but it's still unclear to me if yes or no

hexosan · 08-06-2014 03:25PM

Is someone planning a grow house ????

tomdempsey200 · 08-06-2014 03:31PM

hexosan wrote: »

Is someone planning a grow house ????

I think most of the growhouse idiots bypass the meter completely

hajjid · 08-06-2014 03:43PM

hexosan wrote: »

Is someone planning a grow house ????

No.

08-06-2014 07:58PM

There are a number of reasons that can trigger an investigation by ESB Networks in to meter tampering, this would include suspicious meter readings or a sudden reduction in meter readings.

From ESB Networks:

Meter interference is easily detected and we have a team dedicated to identifying those involved. It is our policy to take criminal proceedings against such people.

See link.

I think that this thread has run it's course.

Can Electric Supply Companies know how much electricity you use without a meter?

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