Exec: Eletropaulo to eliminate power theft by Aug. 2005

Brazilian power distribution company Eletropaulo will eliminate all power theft in its concession area by August 2005 by investing more than 54mn reais (US$18.3mn) in a program to identify and sue thieves, the company's operations VP Cyro Boccuzzi told BNamericas. The company is putting 870 agents on the street of Sao Paulo city and 23 surrounding municipalities in its concession area to detect meter fraud in houses, commercial establishments and factories, he said. Eletropaulo expects that the crackdown on power thieves will result in the recovery of some 600mn reais (US$204mn) in lost revenue by August 2005. The company has been fighting theft since 2003, when it invested 45mn reais and recovered 202mn reais in uncharged consumption. But the overall effect was very small as theft continued to rise. This year's campaign promises to be tougher on power thieves. By the end of the year, the company plans to recover some 260mn reais, and the remainder in the following seven months, he said. Eletropaulo's fight against power theft is part of a program to reduce the company's 13.2% annual losses. Of this, 4.4% is power theft. The company loses another 3.2% from illegal connections by the very poor - theft that is not an immediate priority to combat - and 5.6% from technical losses. With theft eliminated within 18 months, Eletropaulo expects to reduce illegal connections to some 2.5%. This year, the company will invest 12mn reais to turn illegal connections official. Eletropaulo is controlled by US power company AES Corp. It sells power to 5.1 million billed consumers in Sao Paulo city and 23 surrounding towns in the greater Sao Paulo area.