Non-Technical Losses in Light's Concession Area

Abstract

One of the critical problems that electricity distribution companies come across are non-technical losses, also known as commercial losses. These losses impact the economic and financial balances of the electricity distributors, limiting their ability to make further investments. In the state of Rio de Janeiro, the major non-technical losses take place in urban informal settlements (slums). They emerged in the city’s hills as a response to hygiene policy in the early twentieth century. Throughout time, they expanded to peripheral zones and many are dominated by criminal groups, which are responsible for limiting the operation and supervision of electricity distribution companies, preventing adequate actions against non-technical losses. In this sense, the concession area of Light, a private utility located in Rio de Janeiro, has different geographic and socioeconomic characteristics. This paper aims to analyze the non-technical losses in Light’s concession area, based on social aspects considered relevant by the international literature and Rio de Janeiro’s social specificities.