NEWS & UPDATES
SESCO Continues Mission To Combat Power Theft
KUCHING, MONDAY, 7th NOVEMBER 2016: Syarikat SESCO Berhad (SESCO), Sarawak Energy’s retail and operations arm thanks members of the public and relevant authorities for the assistance and cooperation given to the utility in its continuous fight against power theft, enabling a significant reduction in loss attributable to the crime.
A SESCO spokesperson said: “We have achieved significant results in reducing losses due to power theft. The revenue loss due to power theft this year has been reduced to RM24 million compared to its peak of RM140 million in 2010."
SESCO has dedicated resources to fight this dangerous criminal activity and has charted a good record of winning all cases brought to court.
“This is made possible by our dedicated enforcement team, the support and cooperation from the police, Electricity Inspectorate Unit (EIU) and members of the public. This achievement is a motivation for us to continue this challenging task and to further increase public awareness that power theft is a dangerous crime, not only punishable under the law, but could also lead to injury or fatality. We hope to reach a level where this fight against power theft becomes a culture in the society, just like against other act of stealing.”
SESCO recently launched a statewide meter inspection operation in Kuching, Sri Aman, Sarikei, Sibu, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang, targeting high risk and repeated meter tampering consumers from the domestic, commercial and industrial sectors.
The result shows that out of 3300 meters inspected, over 12% were found to have been tampered with. This high tampering percentage was expected as SESCO targets repeat offenders. In addition, SESCO meter inspection teams are able to effectively identify potential meter theft offenders through remote monitoring of the customers’ meters.
An example of an obvious power theft case detected during the recent statewide operation involved a plastic bottle manufacturing factory, that was found to be illegally tapping supply directly from SESCO’s service line. The factory had a history theft and had been under SESCO’s close monitoring list. The direct tapping cable was connected directly from SESCO's service line to the factory’s machinery, bypassing SESCO’s meter. This had resulted in unrealistic low monthly electricity bills for the business. The industrial customer was found to have concealed the direct tap behind the factory wall to avoid detection but was subsequently discovered as SESCO meter inspection teams are well trained and equipped with high-end tools to detect various tampering methods.
Power theft offenders will be charged under Section 33 (5) of the Electricity Ordinance which carries a penalty of RM100, 000.00 and/or five years imprisonment.
Responsible citizens with information on power theft are encouraged to contact SESCO’s power theft hotline at 082-443535 or email customercare@sarawakenergy.com.my. All information will be kept confidential.
