Empowering energy management: anomaly detection in smart meter data for proactive consumption control

The increasing deployment of smart energy meters (SEMs) has enabled real-time monitoring of energy consumption, but the vast data generated makes it challenging to detect anomalies that may indicate inefficiencies, faults, or unauthorized usage. This study aims to enhance energy management by developing a hybrid anomaly detection framework that improves accuracy while providing actionable insights for consumers. The proposed method integrates statistical and machine learning (ML) approaches, specifically Z-score, local outlier factor (LOF), one-class support vector machine (SVM), and isolation forest (iForest), to analyze simulated smart meter data. An anomaly is flagged only when identified by all four methods, thereby reducing false positives and improving reliability. The framework is implemented in an interactive dashboard built with streamlit, offering real-time visualization, peak-time alerts, usage forecasts, and personalized consumption suggestions. Results demonstrate that the hybrid approach outperforms single-method models, achieving higher detection accuracy and practical applicability. The findings highlight the potential of combining complementary detection techniques with proactive feedback to empower consumers, reduce energy wastage, and support sustainable energy management. This work provides a scalable foundation for future real-time deployment in smart grids and microgrid environments.