When people think about energy loss, the conversation often begins and ends with transmission lines stretching across the landscape. Yet, the less visible part of the story lies in the low voltage (LV) distribution grid, the last mile where electricity actually meets homes, industries, and commercial centers. This is where inefficiencies compound, theft thrives, and technical weaknesses quietly drain resources. In India and across emerging markets, studies suggest that up to 12 percent of total power distributed in LV networks is lost without ever being billed or consumed productively.
For utilities, these are not abstract percentages. They translate into crores of rupees in annual revenue loss, lower grid reliability, and increasing financial stress on already stretched distribution companies (DISCOMs). More importantly, they stall progress toward decarbonization by making the grid less efficient just when it needs to become smarter and cleaner.
Why LV grids are the weakest link
Unlike high-voltage transmission networks, which are monitored with sophisticated SCADA systems, the LV distribution grid is still largely opaque. Transformers, feeders, and distribution lines serving neighborhoods often operate without continuous visibility. Losses here can arise from three main sources:
- Technical inefficiencies such as transformer overload, unbalanced phases, or poor power factor.
- Operational inefficiency, such as resolving outage issues after customer complaint, manual logging of asset breakdown works, and routine asset maintenence at a regular defined frequency.
- Voltage drops and leakage due to aging infrastructure or poorly maintained cabling.
The problem is not only financial. For every unit of electricity wasted in this hidden system, more fossil fuels are burned upstream to make up the shortfall, directly undermining national and corporate sustainability goals.
Making the invisible visible with IoT
This is where IoT is rewriting the rules. Traditional loss-detection methods relied on monthly meter readings, manual audits, or rough statistical models that lagged reality by weeks. By the time a discrepancy was identified, the money was gone and the opportunity to intervene had already passed.
Probus has introduced a different approach. Its wireless LV grid sensors and patented communications modules sit directly within the distribution infrastructure, continuously collecting granular data on current, voltage, and power flows. Instead of periodic snapshots, utilities gain a live feed of grid behavior across thousands of nodes.
This real-time dataset becomes exponentially more valuable once paired with advanced analytics. Algorithms can identify patterns that human auditors would miss:
- Pinpointing specific feeders where load curves do not match expected consumption.
- Detecting sudden drops in voltage that indicate cable degradation.
- Flagging consumption signatures that reveal tampered meters or bypassed connections.
The result is an evidence-based map of losses across the LV network, turning what was once invisible into actionable intelligence.
Quantifying and recovering losses
What does this visibility achieve in practice? Consider a utility monitoring 100,000 low-voltage connections. If 12 percent of power is being lost, that translates into tens of gigawatt-hours each year. By installing IoT sensors across distribution assets, utilities can not only identify where the losses occur but also quantify them with precision.
In actual projects carried out, this has enabled utilities to:
- Reduce Asset-CAPEX losses by up to 33 percent within the first year, simply by closing loopholes identified through sensor data.
- Extend transformer life by predicting overload, unbalancing, and past breakdown analysis before it causes failure.
- Improve outage restoration from 2 hours to 25 minutes and gain customer trust by eliminating inconsistencies.
The financial recovery is significant. What once required costly manpower-intensive audits can now be achieved continuously and remotely.
The multiplier effect on sustainability
The conversation about invisible losses is not only about money. It is also about the environmental impact of wasted electricity. Every avoided kilowatt-hour loss means fewer fossil fuels consumed upstream. For countries like India, where coal still contributes a large share of generation, closing this 12 percent LV loss gap could represent millions of tonnes of avoided carbon emissions annually.
Utilities that embrace IoT-powered visibility are therefore not just improving their bottom line, they are directly accelerating national commitments toward decarbonization and net-zero goals.
Building the intelligent grid of the future
The LV grid was once treated as too messy and distributed to monitor effectively. IoT has changed that paradigm. With wireless sensors, hybrid communication cards, and analytics platforms, Probus is enabling utilities to build the foundations of an intelligent distribution grid that is as transparent as it is efficient.
Invisible losses are no longer an unavoidable cost of doing business. They are a solvable challenge, and solving them is one of the most cost-effective ways to strengthen utilities, improve sustainability, and deliver reliable power to communities.
The hidden costs are only hidden if we choose not to look. With IoT sensors, the LV grid is finally revealing its truths, and utilities that act on this knowledge will be the ones leading the energy transition.