Smart meters benefiting Filipino consumers in many ways

KUALA LUMPUR: The installation of smart meters in the Philippines has brought benefits to consumers, as well as to power utility Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), says its chief technology advisor, Gavin D. Barfield.

Speaking here yesterday after a keynote session on green development and transformation in the electricity supply industry at the Conference of Electric Power Supply Industry (Cepsi) 2018 here, he said smart meters enabled priceconscious consumers to better monitor their power usage.

These meters, especially prepaid types, facilitated consumers to pay at local stores that sold credit topping-up or loading services whenever they ran out of credit, said Barfield.

In addition, he said smart meters help landlords renting out their premises to get better financial management of power usage and bill payment by their tenants as their bills could be settled on the spot with the availability of realtime information.

Barfield said one of the interesting developments that had emerged from the installation of pre-paid smart meters was the reduction of electricity thefts from nearby power lines in the slum areas of Manila as the dwellers were prepared to pay for power usage in accordance with their needs.

The availability of pre-paid smart meters also eliminated the need for slum dwellers to obtain electricity from neighbours with legitimate power supply connections who might even charge rates higher than the power utility itself, he said.

Barfield said with technological advancements and disruptions, MERALCO, with a history of more than 100 years of existence, would have to roll out more solutions for the benefit of its consumers, instead of just being involved in supplying power.

Cepsi 2018 is hosted by Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

Cepsi is held once every two years for energy players in East Asia and the Western Pacific as well as other parts of the world to discuss energy issues.