Interesting discovery during audit of Tempe office building. SRP smart meter data showed electricity usage continuing at night and weekends when building should be empty. Interval data revealed someone was plugging in an electric vehicle after hours. Old mechanical meter wouldn't have shown the usage pattern.
Salt River Project smart meter caught employee electricity theft
Smart meters are great for detecting unauthorized usage. Had similar case in Irvine with Southern California Edison. Employee was running cryptocurrency mining rig in storage room. 15-minute interval data made it obvious.
Mississippi Power smart meters caught janitor charging electric scooter at my client's warehouse. Usage pattern was obvious in the interval data - spike every night from 11 PM to 3 AM.
Evergy in Kansas City found similar theft using AMI data. Security guard was operating space heater in guard shack that wasn't supposed to have power. Old meters couldn't detect small after-hours loads.
Smart meters provide forensic-level usage data that mechanical meters can't match. Great for identifying unauthorized usage, equipment malfunctions, and billing errors.