Smart electricity meters for all households in Bengaluru by March 2025

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After smartphones, smart homes and of course the smart city, it’s time for smart electricity meters. And if Bescom has its way, every home with an electricity connection in Bengaluru will have a smart meter by March 2025.

But before giving you more details on the power utility agency’s ambitious project, let’s answer the basic question: What is a smart meter?

A smart electricity meter can do much more and a lot better than what a traditional electricity meter does without having any of its hassles.

Another feature is prepaid meters that can be topped up just like prepaid mobile phone plans. Consumers can pay only for the amount of electricity they intend to use. “This will give them an idea of how much electricity they are actually consuming or wasting. They can accordingly restrict their usage,” says a senior engineer in Bescom’s east division.

Citizens can also track power outages in their locality through the app and accordingly take care of home appliances by remotely turning them on or off.

As for Bescom, the smart meters will help it track electricity usage patterns and reduce power losses, especially those arising from peak-hour consumption. “Smart meters will not only help improve efficiency but also cut the losses. Through two-way communication, we can check the status and record the meter readings remotely. We can also remotely reconnect or disconnect power,” another Bescom engineer said.

Once the entire system is in place, Bescom can use these smart meters to study and manage peak-hour power consumption. “Instead of going for power cuts during peak hours, we can send alert messages to consumers about their consumption. If they respond and reduce power usage, we can potentially avoid power cuts,” the engineer said. “It will be a win-win situation for both Bescom and consumers.”

The prepaid meters will also help Bescom worry less about defaulters. Thousands of individual consumers owe the agency crores of rupees in arrears, recovering which requires both money and time. The prepaid meters, however, will be mandatory only for government buildings, not individual households.

It was the success of a pilot project undertaken in the Chandapura subdivision, South Bengaluru, that spurred Bescom to decide to instal smart meters across the city. The agency has installed 1,200 smart meters in Chandapura. Then came a direction from the ministry of power that smart meters be installed on priority in all government buildings.

Bescom will instal the smart meters in two phases.

The first phase, which has a December 2023 deadline, will cover all government buildings, commercial establishments, industries and similar organisations. The second phase, to be rolled out by March 2025, will cover all residential buildings, the senior Bescom engineer said. Bescom will soon submit the proposal to the Energy Department and take it up once it’s approved.

As per initial estimates, the project cost is pegged at a whopping Rs 4,900 crore. Bescom will, however, take up the project under the Operating Expense (OPEX) model whereby it doesn’t have to make any upfront investment. The investment will be made by the contractor while Bescom will only pay a monthly rent for 10 years. The Energy Department is expected to provide grants of up to 15 per cent of the cost.

A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that each smart meter will cost about Rs 6,000 while Bescom will incur a monthly rent of Rs 75 per meter. “Technically this is called the life cycle cost,” the engineer said.

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