Hyderabad, Aug 22 (Maxim News): Smart meters are a kind of recharge system where you have to pay in advance for the amount of electricity you need, just like recharging talk time and data on a mobile phone. With this, an experiment has been started to slowly introduce smart meters to the people in Telangana.
Officials said that smart meters are being given to those who are taking new electricity connections under the Dakshina DISCOM area. Since the cost of these meters will have to be borne by the consumers, efforts are being made to impose the charges related to these meters in the bill in installments so that they do not feel burdened. Although officials say that the cost of each meter is around Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 8,000, it has not been decided which meters to install so far, and Dakshina DISCOM senior officials revealed that they will use installments like EMI in order to pass on the cost of the meters to the consumers.
Smart meters are more advanced than regular meters. They record electricity consumption in real time and provide information to the consumer through a mobile app or online portal. These meters, which operate on a prepaid basis, work like mobile recharge. If the balance is not recharged after it runs out, the electricity supply will automatically stop. Officials say this will increase billing accuracy, eliminate estimated bills and help curb electricity theft. In the past, about 12,000 smart meters were installed as a pilot project in the Jeedimetla industrial area.
According to the National Smart Grid Mission data, 11904 consumers were given these in this project. However, based on this experience, it is now being implemented across TGSPDCL. From now on, only smart meters will be given to consumers who take new electricity connections. After that, it will be installed in offices, commercial establishments, and high-use homes in a phased manner, he said. There are some problems in the implementation of smart meters.
Lack of awareness among consumers about the prepaid system and data security are seen as the main problems. Especially if the data management systems are not proper, consumers are likely to face various technical challenges. In the wake of increasing cyber crimes, electricity sector experts are expressing the opinion that a special security system is needed for the use of these smart meters. TGSPDCL has already completed the data network mapping.
Efforts to replace old connections
While smart meters are being installed in places where new electricity connections are being provided, it is reported that the SPDCL management has instructed its staff to also convert the old ones to smart. To this end, they are taking the details of the meters under their jurisdiction and considering which areas would be best to install smart meters first. A senior official said that the DISCOM officials are ready to implement the same idea in all circles in a phased manner, especially in Hyderabad Central and Banjara Hills Circle, replacing the old ones with smart meters.
The official said that it is not possible to say when and where the meter will be changed, but that there are about 63 lakh connections in the GHMC area, and that they will first complete the commercial connections and then focus on the household consumers. Some technical experts in the electricity sector say that the burden of reading and billing will be reduced with smart meters, but if the right technology is not used in this regard, both the consumer and the company are likely to face big problems. Since CMD Jitesh Patil spoke about smart meters, this issue has come to the fore once again, and this smart issue has now become a topic of discussion in the DISCOM. Even the city residents are worried about when they will get smart meters. (Maxim News)
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