Context (IE): Kerala’s move towards an alternate model for the rollout of smart electricity meters, may hamper the Centre’s Rs 3 lakh crore smart meters project.
Smart Meter National Programme
The Smart Meter National Programme (SMNP), launched by the Government of India in 2017, aims to replace 250 million conventional meters with smart meters by 2022.
Implemented by:Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a JV of PSUs under the Ministry of Power.
The Programme is implemented under Design-Build-Finance-Own-Operate-Transfer (DBFOOT) model by private operators across states through totex(capex plus opex) contracts, which offer a part of the meter cost in the form of upfront payment while the rest is to be amortised in the monthly bills.
Smart Meters
Smart meters are a new generation of energy meters that allow one to learn about their consumption pattern and help utilities conduct system monitoring and customer billing without manual intervention.
Smart meters transmit information about power consumption every 15 minutes or hourly to utility providers.
Since they are connected to the internet, smart meters can communicate information about usage to the consumer and also to the utility provider for monitoring purposes and accurate billing.
Currently, traditional meters require manual inspection every month to generate bills for consumers.
Their aim has been to improve the effectiveness of the Time of Day (ToD) pricing of electricity, for which smart meters are essential.
ToDpricing essentially refers to differential electricity pricing at the consumer end across peak and non-peak hours.
Smart metering is being driven primarily by the desire to lower distribution losses, and accordingly, smart meters incorporate remote disconnection features.
Benefits of Smart Meters
Energy Efficient: By keeping regular tabs on how much energy you’re consuming; you will be encouraged to adjust your electricity usage and save money as well as resources.
User-friendly: Prepaid smart meters send alerts of low balance in the account so that users can recharge well in advance and avoid any last-minute hassles.
Operational Efficiency: The existing manual system for collecting revenue for power usage is not only inefficient but also causes huge losses to power distribution companies.
Highly accurate prepaid smart meters would significantly reduce these losses and help utilities improve the power supply.
Green Energy: By taking a step closer towards a smart energy system, prepaid smart meters reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, thereby reducing our country’s carbon footprint.
