Smart meters help curb up to 57% line losses in cities
Govt plans to install 4 million smart meters in 47 towns by 2022
LUCKNOW: About 10 lakh (one million) state-of-the-art smart meters installed so far in various cities of Uttar Pradesh are curbing theft of electricity and benefitting the cash-strapped UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL), according to an impact study done by the corporation.
It is welcome news for the government-owned distribution entity at a time when its cumulative deficit has reached Rs 90,000 crore. “The initial results of smart meters are very positive and encouraging,” said energy minister Shrikant Sharma, sharing the impact study report.
As announced in the recent state budget, the government will install 40 lakh (4 million) smart meters in the state’s 47 towns by the year 2022 in a bid to arrest commercial and technical losses and increase billing efficiency.
UPPCL chairman and principal secretary, energy, Arvind Kumar viewed a presentation on the impact study at Shakti Bhawan here on Saturday.
It was pointed out during the presentation that the smart meters led to a decrease in the line losses in the range of 1% to 57% in 29 urban divisions and reduction in aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses was reported to be between 1%and 43% in 33 out of 44 urban divisions.
For his part, the energy minister said, “In the electricity distribution division-1 Mathura under my constituency, where 83% of smart meters have been installed, reduction in line losses is already up to 57% and the decrease in the AT&C losses is also up to 36%.”
The presentation also revealed that under 44 divisions in the urban areas with 19.09 lakh consumers (1.9 million), 1.7% input energy increased whereas 4.29% sold energy also went up apparent due to power saved from theft.
“In the 44 divisions where 6.67% lakh smart meter consumers were billed, the sold energy increased by 16% (Jan 19-Jan 20 compared to Jan 18-19). The average billed unit per consumer also increased by 38 units average benefit per consumer being Rs 190,” it was stated during the presentation.
The study comes amid complaints of 5000 smart meters having recorded excessive maximum demand, prompting the energy minister to order an inquiry into the matter when UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman Awadhesh Kumar Verma drew his attention to the issue.
“We had received 4504 cases of smart meters recording a high maximum demand. But the three-member committee that investigated the issue found 330 cases where the meters actually jumped the load while in other cases the high demand was due to natural reasons like consumers using electricity in excess of their sanctioned load,” Sharma said.
He said excess load recorded would not impact consumers as their bills were being revised taking in to account their actual electricity load. The minister said that the Central Power Research institute (CPRI), a Central government body, was further investigating the load jump.
“We will ask the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, the agency that is supplying smart meters, to ensure that such complaints are not received in future after the CPRI submits its report to us,” said the energy minister.
HOW SMART METERS WORK
Smart meters are automatic energy meters with an inbuilt SIM card, like one in the cellphone, to communicate electricity consumption data in real time via a telecommunication network to a preprogrammed utility location. Transparency, accurate monitoring, online connectivity and analysis of meter data, network monitoring, accessibility at remote locations and ability to detect power theft, meter tampering and remotely disconnect or connect power supply are among the main advantages of smart meters.