Behind the scenes at chip firm NXP

Jan Willem Vogel, NXP's senior director of marketing, said that the company was developing anti-tampering technology for smart-metering. Theft of electricity happens around the globe, but is prevalent among marijuana growers in the Netherlands, said Vogel.

"Energy theft is a big issue," said Vogel. "In Holland, the weed growers are stealing it."

Vogel said that offences ranged from burrowing into the physical electrical infrastructure, to using a static charge generator (ESD gun) to trigger presets on the meter.