Endesa detects almost 100 electricity fraud cases per day in Andalucía, most for illegal marijuana plantations

Spain's giant in the electricity sector Endesa detected 17,797 electricity frauds in the Andalucía region in the first six months of 2025 - an average of 98 cases per day, with a defrauded electricity consumption of around 135 million kilowatt-hours. The manipulation of electrical installations to commit fraud is, as the national market and competition regulator (CNMC) recently pointed out, "a growing problem".

In the statement in which it announced this data, Endesa also highlighted that "behind electrical fraud there is an evident risk of electrocution and fire that can affect not only the person who manipulates the installations, but also the people around them". In recent years, there have been "very serious incidents" which have resulted in injuries and even deaths due to the alteration of electrical installations to steal electricity. Electricity fraud also entails an economic cost for all consumers through their bills and has "very harmful effects on the quality of the electricity supply".

The "main causes of these issues" are marijuana plantations inside flats, houses or buildings, known as indoor plantations, which use "sophisticated electrical installations illegally hooked up to the grid with high consumption 24 hours a day that wreak havoc on electrical installations".

Data from the European Drug Report 2025 indicates that Spain accounts for 73% of all marijuana plant seizures registered in the EU, a large part of which are grown in these indoor facilities. Each one of these indoor greenhouses requires a power equivalent to the consumption of about 80 homes of around 100 square metres.

Between January and June, there have been 744 blows to indoor plantations in Andalucía, that is, more than 28 per week in operations led by the security forces. The volume of energy recovered in these frauds amounts to 39.6 million kilowatt-hours, i.e. 29% of the defrauded energy in Andalucía comes from marijuana plantations.

Endesa's collaboration with the security forces is "key" in the fight against fraud and one of the central aspects of the agreement recently signed with the National Police's general commissioner's office to further the prevention and investigation of crimes affecting essential electricity production, distribution and supply services.

In addition to its collaboration with the police forces, since 2017 Endesa has also been using machine learning and deep learning models to be more efficient in the fight against energy theft. The process starts with the existing inspection history carried out among the 12 million supply points, consumption patterns, information on metering equipment and even meteorological information - data that is used to more accurately detect the likelihood of fraud.

The use of AI, combined with information provided by innovations such as advanced monitoring equipment installed in the distribution network, helps to better pinpoint the source of fraud within a supply group. Once in the field, elements such as clamp meters or videoscopes help workers uncover fraud.

Endesa criticised Spain for being the "only country" in the EU where electricity fraud does not entail imprisonment, unlike France, Portugal, Italy and Germany. In the Spanish legal framework, this crime does not include aggravating circumstances and does not count for recidivism, regardless of whether it is used to feed massive cannabis plantations or may be the cause of fires with serious consequences.