Electricity fraud across Catalonia surged by 7% in 2025, with the detected stolen power equivalent to the annual consumption of 144,000 homes. This amount matches the electricity use of a city the size of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, a municipality in the Barcelona metropolitan area. Endesa, Catalonia's main electricity distributor, identified 24,347 cases of fraud on its network last year.
This means the company found an average of 67 manipulations every day, or one every three hours. Overall, more than 486 gigawatt-hours (GWh) were illegally consumed. Across all Spanish territories where Endesa operates, the company detected 72,700 cases of electricity fraud in 2025, an increase of 1,700 cases from 2024. This equates to approximately 200 cases daily.
Rising Fraud and Network Strain
Between 2021 and 2025, Endesa closed over 320,000 cases of network manipulation. These efforts helped recover more than 3,750 GWh of electricity. This recovered energy is comparable to the annual consumption of over one million homes, a figure similar to all households in major cities like Barcelona and Seville, the company states. Marijuana plantations and large consumers, including industries and businesses, account for most of the defrauded energy. This occurs within a context of increasing professionalisation of electricity theft.
Cannabis cultivation facilities create continuous electrical problems for local residents. Endesa indicates that reinforcing the electrical network with increased power does not solve the issue. Instead, criminals use the extra capacity to power new plantations. In some areas, the available electrical power is five times the legally contracted amount. However, the scale of fraud still saturates the installations.
Impact on Communities and Workers
Endesa cited the Font de la Pólvora neighbourhood in Girona as an example. On 17 July, a transformer centre supplying the area burnt out due to overload. Authorities had to demolish it completely because of structural damage. The new, more powerful transformer then created a "pull effect," causing consumption to multiply by six. This means residents consume six times more energy than their meters record, according to the company.
Another incident occurred on 22 March, when a fire, caused by fraud, broke out in a meter centralisation on Avellaner Street in the same neighbourhood. Emergency medical services (SEM) treated several injured individuals. In Font de la Pólvora, 258 of 615 supply points lack a contract, representing 41% of connections. These illegal connections generate 71% of the energy losses, Endesa reports. From 2024 to 2025, the absolute value of these losses increased by 24%.
Combating Fraud with Technology
The link between these plantations and electricity service quality is clear. After security forces dismantle indoor cannabis farms, electricity consumption in those areas plummets. Endesa reports that incidents can reduce by up to 90%. The company also highlights the insecurity its workers face. Employees must travel with police escorts and cover their faces to avoid identification. Over the last four years, company employees and contractors suffered around 100 cases of physical violence. In 2025 alone, Endesa recorded 58 assaults during fraud dismantling operations.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies are becoming critical tools in the fight against fraud. These innovations have doubled the success rate of inspections, the company says. Network digitalisation, sensor deployment, and smart meter installation provide more information. Analysing this data using machine learning and deep learning techniques helps detect deviations and abnormal behaviours. Anonymous tips also offer an effective way to combat fraud. In 2025, citizen complaints led to 22,000 inspections, resulting in action on nearly 6,000 energy-loss supplies.
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Originally published by Ara Cat. Read original article.
