Majuro, Marshall Islands – MEC’s Revenue Protection Unit (RPU) has achieved another major milestone in its ongoing battle against energy theft and system losses. Building on the impressive results announced in March 2025, the RPU has delivered even stronger performance in April 2025, further improving the reliability and fairness of our electricity system.
Breaking Records in April
April 2025 was an exceptional month for the Revenue Protection team:
- Recovered 1,952,058 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity
- Generated $902,138 in revenue recovery
- Reduced system losses to just 10.67%, compared to 13.62% in April 2024
This achievement marks the largest monthly recovery of both energy and money since the program began, demonstrating that MEC’s efforts to combat energy theft and reduce system losses are delivering increasingly impressive results.
The Bigger Picture: Dramatic Improvements Continue
As shown in the chart, MEC has consistently reduced energy losses each month when compared to 2024 figures. While our system losses were at 26.49% in January 2024, we’ve brought that down to:
- 20.84% in January 2025
- 20.69% in February 2025
- 14.97% in March 2025
- 10.67% in April 2025
This dramatic decline is significantly better than the industry standard improvement rate of 1-2% per year, showing that MEC’s approach is working exceptionally well. At this pace, we are approaching the performance levels of utilities in developed nations, which typically maintain losses below 10%.
What This Means For Our Customers
These improvements directly benefit you, our customers, in several important ways:
- More Fair Billing: When everyone pays their fair share, honest customers don’t have to shoulder extra costs to cover losses.
- More Reliable Service: Lower system losses mean better voltage stability and fewer unexpected outages.
- Stronger Financial Health: The nearly $1 million identified in April alone represents energy theft that has now been stopped. While it will take time to collect these back-billed amounts, preventing this ongoing theft will significantly strengthen MEC’s financial position in the years ahead.
- Environmental Benefits: Less wasted electricity means our generators produce only what’s needed, reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
Building on Previous Success
In March, we announced that MEC had successfully reduced system losses by 7% throughout 2024 and recovered more than $4 million in lost revenue. The April 2025 results show we’re not slowing down—we’re actually accelerating our progress.
This continued improvement confirms that the commercial processes and revenue protection measures implemented by MEC are creating lasting, structural changes in how we monitor and manage our electricity system.
While these results are impressive, our work is far from complete. Significant revalidation efforts are still underway, particularly in the F1 (Laura) and F2 (Rita) sectors where our teams have yet to conduct comprehensive inspections. The promising results to date represent just a portion of the potential improvements we expect to achieve as our efforts expand to these remaining areas.
Community Vigilance Makes a Difference
Our community’s increased awareness and reporting of potential energy theft has contributed significantly to these results. Your vigilance helps ensure that everyone pays their fair share for the electricity they use.
We encourage all customers to remain alert and to report any suspicious activity around electrical meters or power lines. Remember our community protection motto: “When You See Something; Say Something.”
Looking Ahead
With system losses now approaching international best practices, MEC is focused on maintaining these gains while further improving service reliability and customer satisfaction. The hard work of our Revenue Protection Unit, combined with community support, is transforming MEC into a more efficient and financially sustainable utility.
MEC acknowledges the continued support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in establishing and strengthening our Revenue Protection Unit. This partnership has been essential to achieving these remarkable improvements in our system performance
