Levels of electricity theft have decreased for the first time in five years, indicating more frequent inspections carried out by DEDDIE/HEDNO, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator, and heftier penalties imposed by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, are producing results.

Electricity theft, or non-technical electricity losses, dropped to 3.2 percent of the grid’s total in 2017 compared to 4.2 percent a year earlier.

The grid’s non-technical electricity losses for 2017 reached approximately 1.23 million MWh, according to calculations made by energypress, as, unlike in preceding years, RAE has not released DEDDIE’s related figures. The non-technical electricity loss figure for 2016, announced in 2017, was 1,798,649 MWh.

DEDDIE estimated the cost of electricity theft in 2017 at 80 million euros, a figure now expected to fall.

The operator has increased its frequency of inspections in recent years as cases of electricity theft have risen sharply amid the Greek recession.

The country’s electricity theft rate was at 1.1 percent in 2012 and 2013, rose to 3.5 percent in 2014 and 2015, and reached 4.2 percent in 2016.