New meters to assess demand

Power consumers set to get a boost

The Central Government has come out with another reform in the energy sector in the form of smart power meters. These have been set up to safeguard the interest of domestic consumers. Following the Centre’s request, the state has sent a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on the smart meters scheme.

There are about 1.5 crore power consumers in Telangana state spread over three important sectors — domestic, industrial and commercial. At present, there is no mechanism to assess where the power demand is increasing and tariff is finalised based on overall demand.

It has been observed that the consumption in industrial and commercial sectors has been increasing, rather than the domestic sector. However, domestic consumers end up paying more to fill the gap.

The smart meter system will provide customers real-time information on usage and will also help them budget their energy bill. With this system, power utilities are able to know which sector is witnessing increase in demand for power and will collect tariff accordingly from them. Officials said the main advantage of using smart meters will be “control over consumption cost.”

Officials said in the first phase smart meters will be fixed for industrial and commercial consumers. The cost of a smart meter will be around `3,000 and the Centre will bear the expenditure. Smart meters will read the power demand every 15 minutes and inform power utilities where the it is rising.

Energy Department officials said smart metering will provide customers and businesses real-time information on usage and this will show the exact usage of each appliance. Smart meters will ensure transparency for consumers who can control energy consumption.