{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7225619754","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a19110978","title":"Dataset Separability Versus Model Architecture in Electricity Theft Detection: A Rigorous Comparison of Four Machine Learning Models Across Two Datasets","display_name":"Dataset Separability Versus Model Architecture in Electricity Theft Detection: A Rigorous Comparison of Four Machine Learning Models Across Two Datasets","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-11-09","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7225619754","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a19110978"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.3390/a19110978","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a19110978","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a19110978","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S190629608","display_name":"Algorithms","issn_l":"1999-4893","issn":["1999-4893"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"listed_in":["cwts-core","doaj","jufo-1","norway-1","poland-40","russia-white-list-2","vabb-shw"],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310310987","host_organization_name":"Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310310987"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Algorithms","raw_type":"journal-article"},"volume":null,"type":"article","is_traditional":true,"indexed_in":["crossref","doaj"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"gold","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a19110978","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5159106151","display_name":"Mmeli Thokozani Dube","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I177181097","display_name":"Durban University of Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/0303y7a51","country_code":"ZA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I177181097"]}],"countries":["ZA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Mmeli Thokozani Dube","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I177181097"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5050391933","display_name":"Rito Clifford Maswanganyi","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I177181097","display_name":"Durban University of Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/0303y7a51","country_code":"ZA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I177181097"]}],"countries":["ZA"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Rito Clifford Maswanganyi","raw_affiliation_strings":["Steve Biko Campus, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Steve Biko Campus, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I177181097"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5091745928","display_name":"Philani Khumalo","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6641-8894","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6641-8894"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I177181097","display_name":"Durban University of Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/0303y7a51","country_code":"ZA","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I177181097"]}],"countries":["ZA"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Philani Khumalo","raw_affiliation_strings":["Steve Biko Campus, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6641-8894","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Steve Biko Campus, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I177181097"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":1,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5050391933"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I177181097"],"apc_list":{"value":1600,"currency":"CHF","value_usd":1930},"apc_paid":{"value":1600,"currency":"CHF","value_usd":1930},"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.0,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"19","issue":"11","first_page":"978","last_page":"978"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T13429","display_name":"Electricity Theft Detection Techniques","score":1.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2208","display_name":"Electrical and Electronic Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T13429","display_name":"Electricity Theft Detection Techniques","score":1.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2208","display_name":"Electrical and Electronic Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T13720","display_name":"Benford\u2019s Law and Fraud Detection","score":0.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2613","display_name":"Statistics and Probability"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/26","display_name":"Mathematics"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10603","display_name":"Smart Grid Energy Management","score":0.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2208","display_name":"Electrical and Electronic Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/electricity-theft-detection","display_name":"electricity theft detection","score":1.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/non-technical-losses","display_name":"non-technical losses","score":0.8989999890327454},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/model-architecture-comparison","display_name":"model architecture comparison","score":0.8149999976158142},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/injection-attacks","display_name":"injection attacks","score":0.5350000262260437},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/random-forest","display_name":"random forest","score":0.5849999785423279},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/xgboost","display_name":"XGBoost","score":0.9990000128746033},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/lightgbm","display_name":"LightGBM","score":0.9980000257492065},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/isolation-forest","display_name":"Isolation Forest","score":0.8379999995231628},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/class-imbalance","display_name":"class imbalance","score":0.6000000238418579},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/cross-dataset-generalization","display_name":"cross-dataset generalization","score":0.6919999718666077},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/utility-metering","display_name":"utility metering","score":0.4490000009536743}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C184898388","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1435712","display_name":"Pairwise comparison","level":2,"score":0.6675000190734863},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.6651999950408936},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C43521106","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2165493","display_name":"Pipeline (software)","level":2,"score":0.6643000245094299},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.6331999897956848},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.5935999751091003},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C169258074","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q245748","display_name":"Random forest","level":2,"score":0.5253000259399414},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777212361","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5127848","display_name":"Class (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.4812000095844269},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C148524875","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6975395","display_name":"F1 score","level":2,"score":0.4113999903202057},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C123657996","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12271","display_name":"Architecture","level":2,"score":0.35089999437332153},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C9652623","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190109","display_name":"Field (mathematics)","level":2,"score":0.32519999146461487},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778334786","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1586270","display_name":"Variation (astronomy)","level":2,"score":0.3089999854564667},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C124101348","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172491","display_name":"Data mining","level":1,"score":0.3077999949455261},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C153180895","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7148389","display_name":"Pattern recognition (psychology)","level":2,"score":0.3077000081539154},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2775941552","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25212305","display_name":"Isolation (microbiology)","level":2,"score":0.29330000281333923},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C206658404","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12725","display_name":"Electricity","level":2,"score":0.2879999876022339},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C52622490","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1026626","display_name":"Feature extraction","level":2,"score":0.2842000126838684},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C105795698","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12483","display_name":"Statistics","level":1,"score":0.2685000002384186},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C51632099","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3985153","display_name":"Training set","level":2,"score":0.26510000228881836},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C3018023364","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q425265","display_name":"Significant difference","level":2,"score":0.25949999690055847},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C42058472","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q810214","display_name":"Base (topology)","level":2,"score":0.2535000145435333}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.3390/a19110978","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a19110978","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a19110978","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S190629608","display_name":"Algorithms","issn_l":"1999-4893","issn":["1999-4893"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"listed_in":["cwts-core","doaj","jufo-1","norway-1","poland-40","russia-white-list-2","vabb-shw"],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310310987","host_organization_name":"Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310310987"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Algorithms","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.3390/a19110978","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a19110978","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/a19110978","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S190629608","display_name":"Algorithms","issn_l":"1999-4893","issn":["1999-4893"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"listed_in":["cwts-core","doaj","jufo-1","norway-1","poland-40","russia-white-list-2","vabb-shw"],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310310987","host_organization_name":"Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310310987"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Algorithms","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"study_designs":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":106,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W1993220166","https://openalex.org/W1995443851","https://openalex.org/W2084413241","https://openalex.org/W2148143831","https://openalex.org/W2167277498","https://openalex.org/W2212529815","https://openalex.org/W2295598076","https://openalex.org/W2296719434","https://openalex.org/W2776990447","https://openalex.org/W2786918196","https://openalex.org/W2800562601","https://openalex.org/W2999309192","https://openalex.org/W3080094819","https://openalex.org/W3084013305","https://openalex.org/W3096424616","https://openalex.org/W3097369108","https://openalex.org/W3097468641","https://openalex.org/W3160464491","https://openalex.org/W3168662710","https://openalex.org/W3172701880","https://openalex.org/W3181552969","https://openalex.org/W3185631424","https://openalex.org/W3197188289","https://openalex.org/W3201079611","https://openalex.org/W3207924781","https://openalex.org/W3209387553","https://openalex.org/W3212413828","https://openalex.org/W3214163130","https://openalex.org/W3215417413","https://openalex.org/W4200487082","https://openalex.org/W4205784232","https://openalex.org/W4206151196","https://openalex.org/W4206372987","https://openalex.org/W4210367500","https://openalex.org/W4213458212","https://openalex.org/W4223482643","https://openalex.org/W4225552947","https://openalex.org/W4225781425","https://openalex.org/W4226311503","https://openalex.org/W4283760114","https://openalex.org/W4286829109","https://openalex.org/W4292261115","https://openalex.org/W4293530457","https://openalex.org/W4294811472","https://openalex.org/W4297198361","https://openalex.org/W4303987563","https://openalex.org/W4304127878","https://openalex.org/W4306398624","https://openalex.org/W4309048734","https://openalex.org/W4313516244","https://openalex.org/W4315433501","https://openalex.org/W4316021877","https://openalex.org/W4316660992","https://openalex.org/W4317038442","https://openalex.org/W4319341347","https://openalex.org/W4320920839","https://openalex.org/W4321214126","https://openalex.org/W4322730961","https://openalex.org/W4327967163","https://openalex.org/W4360770698","https://openalex.org/W4362500637","https://openalex.org/W4366310817","https://openalex.org/W4378087497","https://openalex.org/W4379983364","https://openalex.org/W4380194044","https://openalex.org/W4382460715","https://openalex.org/W4385286425","https://openalex.org/W4385489578","https://openalex.org/W4385576721","https://openalex.org/W4386590758","https://openalex.org/W4386917306","https://openalex.org/W4387184260","https://openalex.org/W4387517534","https://openalex.org/W4387568393","https://openalex.org/W4388408450","https://openalex.org/W4389300949","https://openalex.org/W4389965896","https://openalex.org/W4390608740","https://openalex.org/W4390610734","https://openalex.org/W4391807414","https://openalex.org/W4391840798","https://openalex.org/W4393012040","https://openalex.org/W4394603710","https://openalex.org/W4395475082","https://openalex.org/W4398141297","https://openalex.org/W4399021960","https://openalex.org/W4399428339","https://openalex.org/W4403492749","https://openalex.org/W4404170228","https://openalex.org/W4404726010","https://openalex.org/W4405111348","https://openalex.org/W4405303380","https://openalex.org/W4406640922","https://openalex.org/W4406703974","https://openalex.org/W4407752957","https://openalex.org/W4407891680","https://openalex.org/W4409466494","https://openalex.org/W4410731831","https://openalex.org/W4411326057","https://openalex.org/W4411891074","https://openalex.org/W4413358888","https://openalex.org/W7133186244","https://openalex.org/W7133958478","https://openalex.org/W7134811554","https://openalex.org/W7161124914","https://openalex.org/W7169864249"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W7212107109","https://openalex.org/W7223030875","https://openalex.org/W7134184726","https://openalex.org/W3184032996","https://openalex.org/W3185631424","https://openalex.org/W6885033775","https://openalex.org/W4413445338","https://openalex.org/W7155405309","https://openalex.org/W3089091568","https://openalex.org/W4414427185"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Electricity":[0],"theft":[1,126],"leads":[2],"to":[3,35,49,57,113,132,139,151,230,249,257,265],"large":[4],"amounts":[5],"of":[6,44,130,137,193,207,247],"non-technical":[7],"losses":[8],"for":[9],"utility":[10],"companies.":[11],"Although":[12],"the":[13,19,30,45,50,58,61,81,88,106,118,121,152,174,208,212,219,223,240,244,258,266],"reported":[14,252],"detection":[15],"performance":[16],"differs":[17],"considerably,":[18],"various":[20],"studies":[21],"have":[22],"used":[23],"different":[24],"algorithms,":[25],"datasets":[26,201],"and":[27,52,60,75,98,182,204,260],"pipelines,":[28],"so":[29],"variation":[31],"cannot":[32],"be":[33],"assigned":[34],"any":[36],"one":[37],"factor.":[38],"This":[39],"study":[40],"investigates":[41],"what":[42,53],"proportion":[43,54],"difference":[46,177],"is":[47,55,66,180,237,243],"due":[48,56,256],"architecture":[51,189],"dataset":[59,259],"way":[62],"in":[63,105,178,218],"which":[64,91],"it":[65],"labeled.":[67],"The":[68,232,251],"four":[69],"methods,":[70],"Random":[71],"Forest,":[72,77],"XGBoost,":[73],"LightGBM":[74],"Isolation":[76,195],"are":[78,169,186,254],"compared":[79],"using":[80],"same":[82,220],"leakage-controlled":[83],"pipeline":[84],"with":[85,141],"two":[86],"datasets:":[87],"SGCC":[89,119,209],"benchmark,":[90],"has":[92,110],"labels":[93],"derived":[94],"from":[95,102,228],"field":[96],"inspections,":[97],"half-hourly":[99],"consumption":[100],"data":[101],"53":[103],"schools":[104],"Western":[107,153],"Cape":[108,154],"that":[109,236],"been":[111],"subjected":[112],"injected":[114],"suppression":[115],"attacks.":[116],"On":[117],"dataset,":[120,155],"supervised":[122],"models":[123,210],"achieve":[124],"a":[125],"class":[127],"F1":[128,234],"score":[129,221],"0.366":[131],"0.403":[133],"at":[134],"accuracy":[135],"levels":[136],"0.88":[138],"0.90,":[140],"no":[142],"significant":[143],"pairwise":[144],"differences":[145,253],"(p":[146],"=":[147],"0.126\u20130.867).":[148],"With":[149],"respect":[150],"XGBoost":[156],"performs":[157],"best":[158],"(F1":[159],"0.727,":[160],"FNR":[161,179],"0.294),":[162],"once":[163],"again":[164],"without":[165],"significance.":[166],"Since":[167],"there":[168],"only":[170,233],"17":[171],"positive":[172],"cases,":[173],"smallest":[175],"detectable":[176],"0.450,":[181],"therefore":[183,255],"these":[184],"tests":[185],"uninformative":[187],"about":[188],"rather":[190],"than":[191],"evidence":[192],"equivalence.":[194],"Forest":[196],"does":[197],"worse":[198],"on":[199],"both":[200],"(ROC-AUC":[202],"0.640":[203],"0.565).":[205],"None":[206],"outperforms":[211],"91.47%":[213],"majority":[214],"baseline.":[215],"When":[216],"evaluated":[217],"space,":[222],"binormal":[224],"separability":[225],"index":[226],"increases":[227],"1.203":[229],"2.060.":[231],"effect":[235],"supported":[238],"by":[239],"confidence":[241],"intervals":[242],"cross-dataset":[245],"gap":[246],"+0.157":[248],"+0.325.":[250],"its":[261],"labeling":[262],"procedure,":[263],"not":[264],"architecture.":[267]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-11-11T12:16:26.678958","created_date":"2026-11-10T00:00:00"}
