WHAT HAS HAPPENED?
The government has notified the timeline for replacing the existing meters with 'smart prepaid' meters having a facility toenable the 'prepayment' feature.As per the Ministry of Power notification, all consumers (other than agricultural consumers) in areas with communication networks,will be supplied electricity with smart meters.
The replacement work will complete in two phases byDecember 2023 and March 2025.
The Power Ministry had last week advised all central ministries and departments to switch to prepaidsmart electricity meters.
The ministries have also been asked to issue all enabling orders in this regard.
WHAT EXACTLY ARE SMART METERS?
Broadly speaking, smart meters can communicate data to the discom.However, a good smart meter does a lot more.
The Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) technical specifications say that smart meters should have features such as-Bidirectional communication, integrated load limiting switch, remote firmware upgrade, net metering, and prepaid, post-paid, and time-of-day tariff features,over and above the measurementof electrical energy parameters.
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As such, with smart meters a discomcan manage its operations better.Information on EESL’s ‘National Smart Meter Program Dashboard’ reveals tremendous benefits:-11-36% reduction in AT&C [aggregate technical and commercial] losses and 21% improvement in billing efficiency or₹301 per month per meter (though experts of energy think-tank PrayasEnergy have questioned this figure.
From 11 lakh smart meters, discomshave seen additional revenues of₹264 crore, it says.
POWER MINISTRY NOTIFICATION
All consumers (other than agricultural consumers) in areas with a communication network,shall be supplied electricity with smart meters working in prepayment mode, conforming to relevant IS, within the timelines specified below:
(i) All Union Territories, clectricaldivisions having more than 50% consumers in urban areas with AT&C losses more than 15% in financial year 2019-20, other electrical divisions with AT&C losses more than 25% in financial year 2019-20, all Government offices at Block level and above, and all industrial and commercial consumers, shall be metered with smart meters with prepayment mode by December, 2023
(ii) All other areas shall be metered with smart meters with prepayment mode by March, 2025.2. All feeders and distribution transformers (DTS) shall be provided with meters having AMR facility or covered under AMI.3.
This notification shall be effective from the date of publishing in the Gazette of India.
India plans to install 250 million smart meters at a cost of₹3 lakh crore.The good news is that the smart meter programmehas got off to a good start.The note of caution expressed by experts is that the rollout needs to be carefully done, avoiding pitfalls
About 2 million smart meters have been installed under different initiatives in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi,But mainly through the public sector company EESL, which pays for the meters initially and later recovers the cost from thediscomsover a period of time.EESL has so far installed 1.58 million smart meter
THE PROBLEM?
The leap from 2 million to 250 million is not going to be easy.For the movement to reach its goal, discomswill haveto get into the act.First, who will bear the cost of smart meters —the consumers or the discoms?
Since discomsstand to gain financially—consumers gain mainly through potentially better service —they should foot the bill.But their poor financial health stands in the way.
The UP discomshad, during the rollout in 2018, clearly mentioned that the costs would not be recovered from consumers.But they went back on their word, petitioning the State electricity regulator for defraying the costs through an annual increase in tariff.
Rajasthan and Bihar also want consumers to pay, but thereis bound to be resistance to this.
Second, experts also point out that unless the movement is made consumer-centric,rather than discom-centric, it will not go on well.There are a number of aspects to consumer-centricity.
For example, they should be given sufficient notice before the meter disconnects the power supply, especially in the case of pre-paid meters (which the government is keen on).
Also, there is the issue of data —access and privacy. Consumers should have access to their own data collected by smart meters.
Besides, the consumer should see some tangible benefitsfrom smart meters.
One possibility is the automatic compensation for power outages exceeding a certain period of time —something that is envisaged in the Ministry of Power’s Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020
CONCLUSION
Govt said that prepaid smart metering in all government departments would not only bring DISCOMs back on the path of financial sustainability and promote energy efficiency,
But would also serve as a model for similar state department mechanisms to promote pre-payment of electricity.
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