Non-technical losses: A systematic contemporary article review

Abstract

Abstract Non-technical losses refer to all electricity consumption not billed and represent a significant problem that has consequences to all sectors and a substantial negative impact on some geographical areas. These losses are complex and are attributed to several factors, leading researchers, concessionaires, and regulatory agents to seek successful solutions to reduce their effects. Thus, this article aims to identify the worldwide panorama on non-technical losses, presenting their impacts and the leading strategies and policies to mitigate them, helping the public and private sectors to understand the theme to outline effective solutions to combat this problem. A systematic review of the literature has been performed using the review protocol Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes, which resulted in 121 journal articles published between 2000 and 2020. The results comprise a complete definition of non-technical loss, its consequences for countries, distribution utilities, and society, the barriers and strategies for their identification, and the principal policies and regulations in countries of all levels of Gross National Income per capita. The main contribution of this article is to demonstrate the impact of non-technical losses to society and the economy, and the research and investigation directions so that frauds in the electricity sector are mitigated.