NEW DELHI: The central government’s three-year scheme to replace all 25 crore traditional meters in the country with pre-paid meters could by far be the smartest and most efficient move to date to improve the financial conditions of discoms (distribution companies). the implementation of the programme in Bihar and the Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir, both traditionally considered as laggards, show sharp upward growth in all financial parameters of the respective discoms — from billing efficiency, and recovery of dues to actual consumption getting recorded.
A presentation was made at the two-day brainstorming session of state power ministers at Udaipur last week, and Bihar has been leading by achieving 92% penetration of pre-paid smart meters. The presentation highlighted Ashiyana and Bankipur; these two are areas with high smart meter distribution. Taken as a test case, smart meters improved the efficiency of collecting dues from 94% to 115% and 92% to 105%, respectively. Recovery of arrears too stood at 100%.
This increased the average monthly collection from per customer by 65%. At the same time, the consumption figure per consumer also went up by up to 42%, indicating the quantum of losses suffered by discoms earlier due to theft. The presentation showed similar positive results from Jammu and Kashmir regions, where the power distribution system was failing miserably till a few years ago.
Smart meters have been proving fruitful to both consumers and discoms. Discoms benefit from reduced losses due to anti-theft methods and better cash flow, which reduces the need for loans or credit to meet operational and functional expenses. This reduces their interest costs. Consumers benefit from an uninterrupted power supply and pay for what they utilize, as thefts minimize efficiently. Economically, smart meters have been more efficient in these areas where theft and slippage were common practices.
although Bihar leads in penetration of pre-paid meters, Uttar Pradesh has installed the highest number of post-paid meters at more than 11.5 lakh. Bihar is a close second with 11 lakh smart meters installed, Rajasthan 5.5 lakh, Haryana 5.3 lakh, Assam 4.1 lakh, and Delhi 2.5 lakh. according to the scheme; in the first phase, 10 crore meters are to be replaced in ‘priority areas’ (high loss, high-value consumers) by December 2023. Meters in the remaining areas will be replaced by March 2025.
The smart meter scheme aims at improving and strengthening the infrastructural and economical conditions of the discoms, to provide 24-hour power supply to consumers(commercial and industrial) reducing line losses to 12-15% by 2024-25 nationally and closing the gap between the cost of supply and revenue realized to ‘nil’ by 2024-25.