UNION GOVERNMENT SANCTIONS 7.23 LAKH SMART METERS

Representative Photo by Jon Moore on Unsplash

As per Para 8.4.3 of Tariff Policy 2016 “the Appropriate Commission may provide incentives to encourage metering and billing based on metered tariffs, particularly for consumer categories that are presently unmetered to a large extent. The metered tariffs and the incentives should be given wide publicity. Smart meters have the advantages of remote metering and billing, implementation of peak and off-peak tariff and demand side management through demand response. These would become essential in future for load-generation balancing due to increasing penetration of intermittent type of generation like wind and solar power.

Appropriate Commission shall, therefore, mandate smart meters for: i) Consumers with monthly consumption of 500 units and more at the earliest but not later than 31.12.2017 and ii) Consumers with monthly consumption above 200 units by 31.12.2019”. Under National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM), 7.23 lakh smart meters have been sanctioned.

The aims and objectives of installing Smart Meters are to help consumers in seamless online billing process & digital payment of bills; having access to real time tracking of electricity usage; helping consumers track their consumption patterns and adopt more energy-efficient behaviours and appliances; offering them an option to pre-pay for electricity based on their requirements and – thus be in control of their total energy spends; enable time of day metering and thus, playing a pivotal role in the integration of renewable power; helping DISCOMs function remotely by eliminating manual collections and reduced AT&C losses.

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