Various embodiments disclosed herein provide techniques for detecting electrical arcing in an electrical system. A powerline communications (PLC) application executing on a network communications device acquires, via a PLC modem, first voltage readings associated with an electrical circuit. The PLC application performs one or more operations based on the first voltage readings to determine that an electrical arcing condition is present within the electrical circuit. The PLC application performs a remedial operation in response to determining that the electrical arcing condition is present.