Electrical Utilities Proactively
Stop Copper Theft
Video security plays a key role in the fight against copper theft for most Electrical Utility companies. Inexpensive battery‐operated cameras with built‐in motion detection triggers offer easy‐to‐install solutions to allow Utility companies to see what is going on at substations from remote locations. Unfortunately the motion‐detection is designed that “something has moved” and is prone to false alarms.
The key issue with video motion detection is that it is designed to begin recording when any change in the video occurs. Video motion detection cannot differentiate whether wind blowing trees or debris, rain or snow falling, insects flying in the camera or a small animal is causing the event.
From this aspect, motion detection is less effective at detecting the security event because it is designed to detect when “something has moved” and therefore does not discriminate what caused the movement.
Video‐analytics based systems differ from video motion detection by alerting security when “something you care about is happening.”
The software is based on machine vision applications that allow users to create detection zones that alert to violations based on the size of objects and the amount of time an object stays in a specific area in the field of view. Software filters are used to ignore noise caused by bugs, wind blowing tree branches or precipitation in the field of view. Where motion‐detection offers little discrimination, video analytics are highly elective in determining what actually triggers a security event. By applying Video Analytics‐based security products at utility substations and works facilities, electrical utilities can receive real‐time alert notification when copper thieves get within ten feet of the fence line of a substation and continue to receive alerts after the perpetrator has entered the facility.
This proactive solution allows utility companies to potentially stop theft, and the other damages associated with theft, before it occurs.
Copper Theft is growing epidemic and Video Analytics are playing a pro-active role at reducing the damaging effects of the problem. Learn more about Copper Theft issues with the links below: